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Nuvera and Mitsui sign MOU to develop fuel cells in Japan

Cambridge, Massachusetts (ots-PRNewswire) -

Companies take steps toward creating new entity that will supply fuel
cell power modules to the Japanese premium power, residential, and
commercial markets
Nuvera Fuel Cells,
Inc., and Mitsui & Co., Ltd., today announced they have signed a
Memorandum of Understanding to create a joint venture company that
will, in its initial phase, conduct a feasibility study for the
production and distribution of fuel cell systems for the Japanese
market. Upon completion of the feasibility study, the parties, with
additional Japanese partners, expect to develop, manufacture, market,
distribute, and service integrated fuel cell power systems designed
for premium power, residential, and commercial applications.
Nuvera's role in the new venture will be to develop prototype fuel
cell power modules and systems for field tests in Japan and to
support the feasibility study. Mitsui intends to investigate the
Japanese market opportunities, create a marketing strategy, obtain
the necessary licensing permits in the region, identify promising
partnerships with manufacturers, packagers, distributors, and/or
marketers of fuel cells, and create opportunities to test and
evaluate Nuvera's prototype fuel cell systems.
"We have long viewed the Japanese market as a favourable market
for fuel cells," said Mark Brodsky, President and CEO of Nuvera Fuel
Cells. "Whereas some fuel cell companies have established sales
agreements in Japan, our strategy involves creating stronger,
long-lasting relationships with partners. Through our joint venture
with Mitsui, we gain access to one of Japan's oldest and most
respected institutions that has the technical reach and established
business channels to help us advance the commercialisation of fuel
cells and meet Japan's growing energy demands. This venture builds on
the 30-year relationship our largest shareholder, Gruppo De Nora, has
maintained with Mitsui -- a relationship that is also one of the
oldest joint ventures in Japan today."
Nuvera's integrated fuel cell power systems, which include a fuel
processor and a fuel cell, are being designed to provide power to
homes, office buildings, convenience stores, and other stationary
applications. Natural gas and propane will be the primary fuels used
to power these systems initially. Further studies are planned to
determine the feasibility of using Nuvera's multi-fuel capability to
utilise kerosene, ethanol, and diesel as fuel sources.
"Fuel cells represent one of the world's great innovations whose
time has come," said Toshiyuki Hayashi, General Manager of Mitsui's
Industrial Machinery Division. "Mitsui is pleased to have the
opportunity to work with Nuvera and explore the fuel cell market in
Japan. It is our belief that, together, we can combine our individual
strengths - our breadth of technical knowledge, business know-how,
and global reach - to generate clean, efficient, and reliable energy
using fuel cell technology."
Fuel cells generate electricity by converting the chemical energy
of hydrogen and air (oxygen) into electrical energy. The by-products
of this process are water vapour and heat.
About Nuvera
Nuvera Fuel Cells, Inc., (www.nuvera.com) is a designer and
developer of fuel processors, fuel cell stacks, and integrated fuel
cell systems for stationary and transportation applications. Its fuel
processors and proton exchange membrane, or PEM, fuel cell stacks
have been successfully tested and evaluated by major automobile and
appliance manufacturers, research institutions, and industrial and
energy companies. Nuvera's fuel processors have demonstrated the
ability to extract hydrogen from a number of commonly available
hydrocarbon fuels, including gasoline, ethanol, methanol, natural
gas, kerosene, propane, butane, home heating oil, and diesel. Nuvera
was formed in April 2000 through the merger of De Nora Fuel Cells
S.p.A., the fuel cell division of the Italian engineering concern
Gruppo De Nora, and Epyx Corporation, the fuel processing division of
the American business and technology consulting firm Arthur D.
Little, Inc. The two companies have built and tested approximately 38
fuel processors and 310 fuel cell stacks over the last 10 years.
Nuvera maintains corporate and operational facilities in Cambridge,
Massachusetts, and Milan, Italy.
About Mitsui
Mitsui & Co., Ltd., (www.mitsui.co.jp) is an international
"business creator" offering value-added services to clients
worldwide. The firm's 17 operating groups oversee a broad range of
products, and have the knowledge and experience to best serve the
ever-changing needs of the global marketplace. Mitsui is one of
Japan's leading sogo shosha, or general trading companies, with total
trading transactions of 13,200.7 billion yen for the fiscal year
ended March 31, 2000. Since its founding in 1947, Mitsui has helped
to drive the development of the Japanese economy and has contributed
to the growth of many other economies around the world by creating
new trade flows and making business investments in new enterprises
and industrial sectors.

Contact:

Robert Derby of Elevista (for Nuvera), phone +1 617-498-6732,
+1 508 393 2528, e-mail: derby.r@nuvera.com, rwderby@.elevista.com;
or Gianfranco Mora of Gruppo De Nora, phone +39 (02) 21 29 23 69,
e-mail: gianfranco.mora@denora.it; or Kazuhiro Nagoya of
Mitsui & Co., Ltd., phone +81 3 3285 4217

Internet: http://www.nuvera.com