This report has been updated. Click here to view latest edition.

If you have previously purchased the archived report below then please use the download links on the right to download the files.

Solid Oxide Fuel Cells 2023-2033: Technology, Applications and Market Forecasts

Granular 10-year SOFC market forecasts for six major application areas, analysis of application areas, benchmarking of players, plus market research of SOFC incumbent and emerging technology trends.

Show All Description Contents, Table & Figures List FAQs Pricing Related Content
Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) Market to Reach US$6.8 billion by 2033
With the drive towards zero-emission power generation, fuel cells are continuing to generate noticeable interest, especially as part of the much hyped 'hydrogen economy'. The fuel flexibility of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) is of particular interest - capable of running on zero/low carbon emission fuels such as hydrogen, ammonia, and e-fuels, as well as light hydrocarbons. With applications ranging from utility-scale power generation to small off-grid residential units, will solid oxide fuel cells be the zero-emission power generation solution of tomorrow?
 
IDTechEx covers the energy and decarbonization sector comprehensively, detailing carbon capture technology, both electric and fuel cell vehicles, and hydrogen production. "Solid Oxide Fuel Cells 2023-2033: Technology, Applications, Players and Forecasts" includes granular 10-year forecasts segmented by application area for both megawatt demand and market valuation, while also detailing the price progression outlook for solid oxide fuel cells. It reveals that SOFCs are entering the growth phase, with market value set to grow to US$6.8 billion in 2033.
 
Historic annual installations (MW) for solid oxide fuel cells (2016-2022), and a breakdown of market share by application area for 2023.
 
A solid oxide fuel cell stack consists of hundreds of individual cells, featuring an electrolyte sandwiched between an anode and cathode, positioned between interconnects. A stack is integrated into a module in combination with the balance of plant. Due to high operating temperatures, one of the most critical issues to overcome for SOFCs is the matching of thermal expansion coefficient of neighboring components to limit stresses during operation. The typical material choice for the ceramic electrolyte is yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) but ceria-based alternatives are emerging, enabling a reduction in operating temperature, and hence limiting degradation issues.
 
SOFCs are best suited to continuous, steady state operation due to extended ramp up times. The ability to operate on a fuel of natural gas allows the SOFC to be connected to gas grid for continuous supply of fuel. Continuous operation leads to a constant power output for SOFCs, which is particularly well suited for power generation for the grid, alongside commercial and industrial (C&I) applications. Combined heat and power (CHP) can be supplied to industrial/commercial spaces, while power alone is useful for applications such as data centres, critical operations (health care etc), and utility scale electricity generation. Each of the major application areas is covered in this IDTechEx report, detailing the suitability for SOFCs and comparison with competing solutions.
 
The landscape of players in the SOFC market is set to change dramatically over the coming decade. Bloom Energy are established as the current dominant player, with an installation base approaching 1 GW. However, competitors are emerging with both small companies and large multinationals entering the market through partnerships, licensing agreements or in-house R&D. IDTechEx provides an independent assessment of these emerging players including technology differentiators (including fuel flexibility) and targeted applications within the market.
 
This report provides critical solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) market intelligence for technology and materials, an overview of six major application areas and includes an assessment of the key players in the SOFC market.
 
An overview of solid oxide fuel cell technologies and materials:
  • Assessment of material trends for anode, cathode, electrolyte, and interconnect components.
  • Overview of latest research and development for SOFC technology.
  • Benchmarking with competing fuel cell technologies.
  • Analysis and benchmarking of fuel choices for SOFC (methane, natural gas, methanol, biofuel, hydrogen, ammonia, e-fuel, etc).
 
A detailed account of the most critical application areas for solid oxide fuel cells:
  • Extensive description of market sectors with growth opportunity for SOFC providing high-power stationary power (commercial, industrial, utilities, etc).
  • Assessment of market sectors for SOFC providing low-power stationary power with a focus on combined heat and power (CHP) (residential, off-grid, etc).
  • Overview of market sectors utilising SOFC for mobile applications (marine, auxiliary power units, unmanned aerial vehicles, etc).
 
An evaluation of players in the SOFC market:
  • Historical assessment of major players including analysis of revenue (including split by service provided), profit/loss, employee numbers, installation base and IP activity.
  • Coverage of emerging players - both small companies and large multinationals entering the market through partnerships, licensing agreements or in-house R&D.
 
Solid oxide fuel cell market forecasts:
  • Granular 10-year SOFC market forecasts for megawatt demand (MW) segmented by six major application areas.
  • Outlook for price progression of solid oxide fuel cells based on historic data, company interviews and stated targets.
  • Granular 10-year forecast for SOFC market valuation ($USD) segmented by six major application areas.
 
"Solid Oxide Fuel Cells 2023-2033: Technology, Applications, Players and Forecasts" offers market forecasts and details of technology trends, key application areas and major players for the solid oxide fuel cell market.
Report MetricsDetails
Historic Data2016 - 2022
CAGRThe global market for solid oxide fuel cells is projected to reach US$6.8 billion in 2033, representing a CAGR of 25.1% when compared to the market in 2023.
Forecast Period2023 - 2033
Forecast UnitsDemand (MW), Value (USD$)
Analyst access from IDTechEx
All report purchases include up to 30 minutes telephone time with an expert analyst who will help you link key findings in the report to the business issues you're addressing. This needs to be used within three months of purchasing the report.
Further information
If you have any questions about this report, please do not hesitate to contact our report team at research@IDTechEx.com or call one of our sales managers:

AMERICAS (USA): +1 617 577 7890
ASIA (Japan): +81 3 3216 7209
EUROPE (UK) +44 1223 812300
1.EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
1.1.Introduction to fuel cells
1.2.SOFC working principle
1.3.SOFC assembly and materials
1.4.Overview of key players
1.5.Why now?
1.6.Desire for emission-free fuels
1.7.Fuel choices for SOFCs
1.8.Normalized benchmarking of SOFC fuels
1.9.Commercial use of fuels in SOFCs
1.10.LCOE from solid oxide fuel cells
1.11.Main applications for SOFCs
1.12.SOFCs for C&I Applications
1.13.SOFCs for Utilities
1.14.SOFCs for Data & Telecommunications
1.15.SOFCs for Residential Applications
1.16.Latest research for SOFCs
1.17.SOFCs for marine applications
1.18.Solid Oxide Electrolyzer (SOEC) overview
1.19.SOFC demand (MW) by application 2020-2033
1.20.Price progression ($/kW) for SOFCs
1.21.SOFC market value outlook by application 2023-2033
1.22.Market share (MW) by application
2.MARKET FORECASTS
2.1.Long-term forecasting of technologies
2.2.Forecast methodology
2.3.Forecast assumptions
2.4.SOFC demand (MW) 2016-2033
2.5.SOFC demand (MW) by application 2020-2033
2.6.Price progression ($/kW) for SOFCs
2.7.SOFC market value outlook 2023-2033
2.8.SOFC market value outlook by application 2023-2033
3.INTRODUCTION
3.1.1.Introduction to fuel cells
3.1.2.What is a fuel cell?
3.1.3.SOFC working principle
3.1.4.Alternative fuel cell technologies: PEMFC
3.1.5.Alternative fuel cell technologies
3.1.6.Comparison of fuel cell technologies
3.1.7.SOFC assembly and materials
3.1.8.Electrolyte
3.1.9.Anode
3.1.10.Cathode
3.1.11.Interconnect for planar SOFCs
3.1.12.Tubular SOFC
3.1.13.Polarization losses
3.1.14.SOFC variations
3.1.15.Combined heat & power (CHP)
3.1.16.Government targets
3.1.17.EU 'Fit for 55'
3.1.18.Overview of players in the SOFC market - USA
3.1.19.Overview of players in the SOFC market - Europe
3.1.20.Overview of players in the SOFC market - China
3.1.21.Overview of players in the SOFC market - APAC
3.2.Latest SOFC Research & Developments
3.2.1.AVL enable development of SOFC systems
3.2.2.Low temperature SOFCs
3.2.3.Kyocera's cylinder-plate fuel electrode supports
3.2.4.Automated operation learning system
3.2.5.3D printing for SOFCs
3.2.6.Power generation from unused biomass resources
3.2.7.AMON Project
4.FUELS FOR SOFCS
4.1.Desire for emission-free fuels
4.2.Low carbon fuels for fuel cells
4.3.Classification of fuels by carbon emissions
4.4.Natural gas for SOFCs
4.5.Liquified natural gas (LNG)
4.6.Hydrogen economy
4.7.Colours of hydrogen
4.8.Hydrogen for SOFCs
4.9.Ammonia for SOFCs
4.10.Ammonia production - Haber Bosch
4.11.Ammonia production - Nitrogen electrolyser
4.12.Overview of e-fuels
4.13.Benchmarking volumetric energy density of SOFC fuels
4.14.Benchmarking carbon emissions of SOFC fuels
4.15.Normalized benchmarking of SOFC fuels
4.16.Commercial use of fuels in SOFCs
5.COMMERCIAL & INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS FOR SOFCS
5.1.SOFC for C&I applications
5.2.Worldwide energy demand growth
5.3.Data centres
5.4.Utilities - LCOE
5.5.LCOE from solid oxide fuel cells
5.6.Utilities case study: South Korea
5.7.Commercial case study: Walmart
5.8.Data case study: AT&T
5.9.Utilities case study 2: Mitsubishi Power
5.10.Integrated gasification fuel cell
5.11.Integrated gasification fuel cell (2)
6.MAIN PLAYERS FOR C&I APPLICATIONS
6.1.Bloom Energy
6.1.1.Bloom Energy - Overview
6.1.2.Bloom Energy - Technology
6.1.3.Bloom Energy - Installation Base
6.1.4.Bloom Energy - Financials
6.1.5.Bloom Energy - Financials Analysis
6.1.6.Bloom Energy - Example customers
6.1.7.Bloom Energy - Example customers (2)
6.1.8.Bloom-SK Fuel Cell
6.1.9.Bloom Energy - SWOT
6.2.Ceres Power & Partners
6.2.1.Ceres Power - Overview
6.2.2.Ceres Power - Technology
6.2.3.Ceres Power - Financials
6.2.4.Ceres Power - SWOT
6.2.5.Ceres Power & Partners
6.2.6.Ceres Power & Bosch/Weichai
6.2.7.Ceres Power & Miura
6.2.8.Ceres Power & Doosan
6.2.9.Ceres Power & BOSAL
6.3.Other Notable Players
6.3.1.Cummins - Overview
6.3.2.Cummins - Applications
6.3.3.Cummins - SWOT
6.3.4.Mitsubishi Power - Overview
6.3.5.Mitsubishi Power - Technology
6.3.6.Mitsubishi Power - SWOT
6.3.7.FuelCell Energy - Overview
6.3.8.FuelCell Energy - IGFC
6.3.9.FuelCell Energy - SWOT
7.RESIDENTIAL APPLICATIONS FOR SOFCS
7.1.1.SOFC for residential applications
7.1.2.Incorporation with solar power
7.1.3.Modularity of systems
7.1.4.Feed-in tariffs (FiT)
7.1.5.Comparison with residential batteries
7.1.6.Outlook for residential SOFCs
7.2.Players offering residential and off-grid SOFCs
7.2.1.OxEon Energy
7.2.2.Upstart Power
7.2.3.Aris Renewable Energy
7.2.4.Edge autonomy
7.2.5.Osaka Gas
7.2.6.Sunfire fuel cells
7.2.7.Comparison of residential SOFCs
8.MARINE APPLICATIONS FOR SOFCS
8.1.Introduction to SOFCs for marine applications
8.2.Overview of policy drivers
8.3.The International Maritime Organization (IMO)
8.4.Emission control areas
8.5.Sulphur and nitrous oxide emissions
8.6.Traditional solutions: Scrubbers & speed reduction
8.7.Shifting emission policy focus
8.8.Marine CO2 emissions and targets
8.9.Reducing greenhouse gases: EEXI & CII
8.10.EU-specific policy
8.11.SOFC for marine
8.12.Fuel cell supplier market share 2019-2024
8.13.Fuel cell deliveries by vessel type 2019-2024
8.14.Average power of FC deliveries 2019-2024
8.15.Solid oxide fuel cell players
8.16.Alma Clean Power
8.17.Bloom Energy
8.18.Ceres / Doosan
8.19.SOFC Barriers & future commentary
8.20.Comparison of commercial marine fuel cells
9.SOFC POWERED VEHICLES
9.1.Volkswagen
9.2.Nissan
9.3.Unmanned vehicles
9.4.Auxiliary power units
9.5.Outlook for SOFC powered vehicles
10.SOLID OXIDE ELECTROLYSIS
10.1.Electrolyzer systems overview
10.2.Electrolyzer systems comparison - Operating parameters
10.3.Pros and cons of electrolyzer technologies
10.4.SOEL Overview
10.5.SOEL Systems: A substitute for AWE?
10.6.Solid Oxide Electrolyzer: Introduction
10.7.Solid Oxide Electrolyzer efficiency
10.8.Reversible SOFC
10.9.SOEL Electrolyzers systems: Materials, specifics
10.10.SOEL Market
10.11.SOEL Supply chain
10.12.New high-temperature electrolysis technology
11.COMPANY PROFILES
11.1.Alma Clean Power
11.2.AVL
11.3.Bloom Energy
11.4.Ceres Power
11.5.Cummins
11.6.FuelCell Energy
11.7.OxEon Energy
11.8.SolydEra (SOLIDpower)
11.9.Edge Autonomy
11.10.Elcogen
11.11.HyAxiom
11.12.Osaka Gas
11.13.Redox Power Systems
11.14.Sunfire
11.15.Upstart Power
 

About IDTechEx reports

What are the qualifications of the people conducting IDTechEx research?

Content produced by IDTechEx is researched and written by our technical analysts, each with a PhD or master's degree in their specialist field, and all of whom are employees. All our analysts are well-connected in their fields, intensively covering their sectors, revealing hard-to-find information you can trust.

How does IDTechEx gather data for its reports?

By directly interviewing and profiling companies across the supply chain. IDTechEx analysts interview companies by engaging directly with senior management and technology development executives across the supply chain, leading to revealing insights that may otherwise be inaccessible.
 
Further, as a global team, we travel extensively to industry events and companies to conduct in-depth, face-to-face interviews. We also engage with industry associations and follow public company filings as secondary sources. We conduct patent analysis and track regulatory changes and incentives. We consistently build on our decades-long research of emerging technologies.
 
We assess emerging technologies against existing solutions, evaluate market demand and provide data-driven forecasts based on our models. This provides a clear, unbiased outlook on the future of each technology or industry that we cover.

What is your forecast methodology?

We take into account the following information and data points where relevant to create our forecasts:
  • Historic data, based on our own databases of products, companies' sales data, information from associations, company reports and validation of our prior market figures with companies in the industry.
  • Current and announced manufacturing capacities
  • Company production targets
  • Direct input from companies as we interview them as to their growth expectations, moderated by our analysts
  • Planned or active government incentives and regulations
  • Assessment of the capabilities and price of the technology based on our benchmarking over the forecast period, versus that of competitive solutions
  • Teardown data (e.g. to assess volume of materials used)
  • From a top-down view: the total addressable market
  • Forecasts can be based on an s-curve methodology where appropriate, taking into account the above factors
  • Key assumptions and discussion of what can impact the forecast are covered in the report.

How can I be confident about the quality of work in IDTechEx reports?

Based on our technical analysts and their research methodology, for over 25 years our work has regularly received superb feedback from our global clients. Our research business has grown year-on-year.
 
Recent customer feedback includes:
"It's my first go-to platform"
- Dr. Didi Xu, Head of Foresight - Future Technologies, Freudenberg Technology Innovation
 
"Their expertise allows us to make data-driven, strategic decisions and ensures we remain aligned with the latest trends and opportunities in the market."
- Ralf Hug, Global Head of Product Management & Marketing, Marquardt

What differentiates IDTechEx reports?

Our team of in-house technical analysts immerse themselves in industries over many years, building deep expertise and engaging directly with key industry players to uncover hard-to-find insights. We appraise technologies in the landscape of competitive solutions and then assess their market demand based on voice-of-the-customer feedback, all from an impartial point of view. This approach delivers exceptional value to our customers—providing high-quality independent content while saving customers time, resources, and money.

Why should we pick IDTechEx research over AI research?

A crucial value of IDTechEx research is that it provides information, assessments and forecasts based on interviews with key people in the industry, assessed by technical experts. AI is trained only on content publicly available on the web, which may not be reliable, in depth, nor contain the latest insights based on the experience of those actively involved in a technology or industry, despite the confident prose.

How can I justify the ROI of this report?

Consider the cost of the IDTechEx report versus the time and resources required to gather the same quality of insights yourself. IDTechEx analysts have built up an extensive contact network over many years; we invest in attending key events and interviewing companies around the world; and our analysts are trained in appraising technologies and markets.
 
Each report provides an independent, expert-led technical and market appraisal, giving you access to actionable information immediately, rather than you having to spend months or years on your own market research.

Can I speak to analysts about the report content?

All report purchases include up to 30 minutes of telephone time with an expert analyst who will help you link key findings in the report to the business issues you're addressing. This needs to be used within three months of purchasing the report.

What is the difference between a report and subscription?

A subscription from IDTechEx can include more reports, access to an online information platform with continuously updated information from our analysts, and access to analysts directly.

Before purchasing, I have some questions about the report, can I speak to someone?

Please email research@idtechex.com stating your location and we will quickly respond.

About IDTechEx

Who are IDTechEx's customers?

IDTechEx has served over 35,000 customers globally. These range from large corporations to ambitious start-ups, and from Governments to research centers. Our customers use our work to make informed decisions and save time and resources.

Where is IDTechEx established?

IDTechEx was established in 1999, and is headquartered in Cambridge, UK. Since then, the company has significantly expanded and operates globally, having served customers in over 80 countries. Subsidiary companies are based in the USA, Germany and Japan.

Questions about purchasing a report

How do I pay?

In most locations reports can be purchased by credit card, or else by direct bank payment.

How and when do I receive access to IDTechEx reports?

When paying successfully by credit card, reports can be accessed immediately. For new customers, when paying by bank transfer, reports will usually be released when the payment is received. Report access will be notified by email.

How do I assign additional users to the report?

Users can be assigned in the report ordering process, or at a later time by email.

Can I speak to someone about purchasing a report?

Please email research@idtechex.com stating your location and we will quickly respond.
 
The market for solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) is set to reach US$6.8 billion by 2033.

Report Statistics

Slides 187
Companies 15
Forecasts to 2033
 

Customer Testimonial

quote graphic
"The resources produced by IDTechEx are a valuable tool... Their insights and analyses provide a strong foundation for making informed, evidence-based decisions. By using their expertise, we are better positioned to align our strategies with emerging opportunities."
Director of Market Strategy
Centre for Process Innovation (CPI)
 
 
 
ISBN: 9781915514646

Subscription Enquiry