High Temperature Fuel Cells

Production and Distribution of Electricity and Heat

Fuel Cells (FC) are electrochemical devices that directly convert the chemical energy of a fuel (hydrogen, alcohols and hydrocarbons) into electricity without combustion and intermediate electromechanical conversion steps. If compared to traditional power systems, the FC offer higher efficiency, quietness, cleanliness and modularity. The FC technology includes high-temperature FCs and low-temperature FCs. This document focuses on high-temperature FC (HTFC), in particular on Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) and Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell (MCFC). The main application of these systems is the electricity generation for both small-size residential applications (SOFC) and medium and large-size industrial applications (MCFC), while the use to power vehicles does not find commercial applications because of the high operation temperature. SOFC systems have a typical size ranging from 1.5 to 300 kW and are mostly used for residential and building services, while MCFC systems ranges from 1.4 to 3.7 MW and are mostly used to produce combined heat and power (CHP) for industrial production. In 2019, SOFC was the second fuel cell technology in terms of number of sold units, with over 22,800 systems, mostly sold in Japan and Europe. Most of the nearly 80 MW existing SOFC capacity has been produced by the US Bloom Energy company. A few suppliers also characterize the MCFC market, with the US Fuel Cell Energy (FCE) company currently being the only one with significant supply capacity. Only an estimated 10 MW installed capacity was added in 2019, although production is currently ramping up. The FCE company has installed systems both in the US and Asia and is now entering the European market, with some installations in Germany

15-07-2022

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