EUROPEAN FUEL CELL FORUM AG

Their core work

European Fuel Cell Forum AG is a Swiss private organisation whose name and track record identify it as the organiser of the European Fuel Cell Forum, one of Europe's longest-running annual conferences dedicated to fuel cell and hydrogen technologies. In H2020, they contributed as a consortium partner on two FCH2 Joint Undertaking projects covering electrolyser qualification for grid services and solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) systems for remote, off-grid power supply. Their practical value in consortia lies in deep community access — connecting academic researchers, fuel cell manufacturers, and end-users — and in disseminating project results to a large, pre-existing European audience of specialists. With limited EC funding received, their contribution is knowledge-based and network-driven rather than primarily research-execution focused.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

EFCF's early H2020 engagement (QualyGridS, 2017) placed them in the electrolyser and grid-integration space, where the challenge was standardising performance tests rather than building hardware. By 2019, their focus shifted toward applied SOFC deployment in harsh, off-grid conditions — a very different end of the hydrogen value chain. With only two data points the trend is indicative rather than conclusive, but the direction is clear: from standardisation and grid-side hydrogen to deployment-oriented fuel cell systems in remote environments.

EFCF appears to be moving from policy-adjacent standardisation work toward applied SOFC system deployment, suggesting growing interest in commercial fuel cell use cases beyond the laboratory.

How they like to work

EFCF has participated exclusively as a consortium partner across both H2020 projects and has never held the coordinator role, which is consistent with their profile as a specialist contributor and dissemination partner rather than a project lead. Despite being a small SME with modest EC funding, they engaged 14 unique partners across 10 countries from just two projects, indicating they are drawn into mid-to-large consortia where broad community reach is valued. Working with EFCF means gaining access to a well-connected European fuel cell network, but they are unlikely to drive project management or take on technical work package leadership.

EFCF has built connections with 14 distinct consortium partners across 10 countries through only two projects, an unusually wide geographic spread for an organisation of this size and funding level. Their conference-organising background likely extends this network considerably beyond what the formal H2020 project record captures.

What sets them apart

EFCF occupies a rare niche as a private Swiss SME whose core function is convening the European fuel cell research and industry community — giving any consortium they join instant visibility and dissemination reach across a large, targeted audience. No other H2020 participant combines formal project participation in both electrolyser qualification and SOFC remote power with the role of hosting a dedicated annual European forum on the topic. For consortium builders, EFCF is a dissemination multiplier, not a research executor.

Highlights from their portfolio

• QualyGridS
  EFCF's first H2020 project, addressing a critical infrastructure gap: the absence of standardised performance tests for electrolysers operating as grid-service providers — a prerequisite for scaling hydrogen in energy markets.
• RoRePower
  The only project for which EFCF received direct EC funding (EUR 100,048), targeting SOFC deployment in genuinely remote and harsh conditions — a commercially relevant problem for off-grid energy access and island systems.