NRC Institute for Fuel Cell Innovation (NRC-IFCI)

The National Research Council of Canada’s Institute for Fuel Cell Innovation (NRC-IFCI) is Canada’s premier applied research organization dedicated to supporting Canada’s fuel cell and hydrogen industry.

NRC-IFCI works independently and in partnership with universities, government agencies and companies on projects focused on the research, development, demonstration and testing of hydrogen and fuel cell systems.

This mandate delivers on Government of Canada climate change and innovation priorities and responds to Canada’s Fuel Cell Commercialization Roadmap, which identified critical areas of research necessary for Canadian industry to overcome cost, performance and reliability challenges of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies.

NRC-IFCI activities are also in line with the province of British Columbia’s Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Strategy. NRC-IFCI’s physical location on the UBC campus emphasizes federal support for B.C.’s Hydrogen fuel cell cluster, the largest concentration of expertise of its kind in the world.

NRC-IFCI’s R&D program is aimed at advancing fuel cell science and technology and accelerating the commercialization of these technologies.

Core Competencies

• Advanced Materials and Processing
• Modeling and Numerical Simulation
• Novel Architecture Design
• Unit and Integrated System Testing
• Sensors and Diagnostics Development

Technology Focus

• Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cells
• Solid Oxide (SO) fuel cells
• Hydrogen and Alternative fuels
• Integrated Technology Demonstrations

Facility Highlights

• 9 fuels safe labs
• Hydrogen Environmental Chamber (HEC)
• Fuel cell test stations
• Integrated Energy Demonstrations
• Meeting and incubation space for industry
• Pacific Spirit Fueling Station

Services and Support

• Technology expertise to address technical gaps
• Financial and in-kind support for technology deployment
• Low-cost access to sophisticated infrastructure
• Opportunities for collaborative research
• Technology Licensing Opportunities
• Testing and Evaluation
• Incubation/Acceleration & Networking