Australia's Ceramic Fuel Cells Ltd has been given an innovation award on Monday for its work on developing energy-efficient electricity generation units, as handed out by the NRW.INVEST in Germany.

The economic development agency from North Rhine-Westphalia said that Ceramic Fuels was picked out from among the 11,000 foreign firms eligible for the award, citing the company's new fuel cell production facility in Heinsberg, where it harness solid oxide fuel cell technology in order to provide low-emission electricity derived from natural gas and renewable fuels.

NRW.INVEST added that the citation, one of three awards being given out by the agency covering innovation, expansion investment and new investment, should encourage further investments to be made in the German state.

The Ceramic facility is projected to annually produce thousands of BlueGen machines, which is roughly the size of a conventional dishwasher and utilises fuel cell technology in converting natural gas to electricity and heat.

The innovative cell production facility, which is described by NRW.INVEST managing director as Petra Wassner during the awards rites in Dusseldorf as "producing the technology of the future," is expected to employ at least 80 individuals.

Ceramic Fuel managing director Brendan Dow hailed the award as due recognition "of the potential of the product to make a significant difference to electricity production and climate change."

As of 1230 AEST on Monday, Ceramic shares were trading at 17 cents, improving by 0.5 cent or 3.03 percent from the previous trading day.