British Clean Power Company Designs First Low-Cost, High-Performance Hydrogen Fuel Cell

RUNCORN, England, February 21, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

New CEO brought on board to commercialise invention

ACAL Energy, the clean power company, which owns the technology enabling the world's first low-cost, high-performance hydrogen fuel cells, has appointed Greg McCray to be its new Chief Executive. Greg will lead the company through its next round of funding and product trials with partners in the automotive and stationary power industries.  

ACAL Energy has a revolutionary approach to hydrogen fuel cell technology. Its patented catalyst and cell architecture means that ACAL Energy designed fuel cells are cheaper, smaller, and more durable than any other hydrogen fuel cells on the market currently. Fuel cell costs are high typically because platinum is an integral component. ACAL Energy designed fuel cells out-perform and use 80% less platinum. After eight years of R&D investment, the company is now ready to license its technology to major automotive manufacturers and companies in the stationary power industry.  

ACAL Energy's new chief executive Greg McCray was previously CEO of Antenova Limited, the global wireless components company. While at Antenova, Greg transformed the organisation into the world's fastest-growing innovative antenna business, backed by global venture capitalists and major institutional funds.

Before joining Antenova, Greg was CEO and Chairman of PipingHot Networks, a UK broadband start-up name-checked by the Wall Street Journal on its Capital Envy List of high-potential companies. Under Greg's tenure, PipingHot raised $27 million in venture capital investment; it was acquired subsequently by Motorola.  

Greg's main role at ACAL Energy will be to begin the mass-market deployment of ACAL Energy's new fuel cell technology, via licensing agreements with the automotive industry.

Greg is currently on the Board of Directors for America's third-largest network operator, CenturyLink, Inc., where he was the key driver behind a round of acquisitions collectively valued at over $39 billion. He is also a consultant for DeMatteo Monnes, an independent research firm and broker serving the global institutional investment fund community. He began his career working for IBM, before progressing to AT&T and Lucent Technologies, where he was Senior Vice President of customer operations.

Dr Bob Pettigrew, non-executive chairman, ACAL Energy, said:

"We're delighted to welcome Greg to ACAL Energy, where his expertise across Asia, Europe and North America will be invaluable to us as we progress from trial deployments to joint development endeavours with automotive manufacturers."  

Greg McCray, new CEO of ACAL Energy, said:

"The clean power sector is on the crest of a new wave of technology innovation. Hydrogen fuel cells are an important part of that wave and commercialising hydrogen power will mean we break our reliance on fossil fuels. The future looks very exciting as auto-makers and power-hungry industries, such as manufacturing, explore hydrogen as an alternative fuel source."

Greg has a B.Sc. in computer engineering from Iowa State University, an M.S in systems engineering from Purdue University and has graduated from the executive business programmes at the universities of Illinois, Harvard and INSEAD.