Commercial-scale SOFC systems

Project Information

ComSos

Grant agreement ID: 779481

DOI

10.3030/779481

Project closed

EC signature date 9 December 2017

Start date 1 January 2018

End date 31 August 2023

Funded under

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Secure, clean and efficient energy

Total cost

€ 10 277 897,50

EU contribution

€ 7 486 954,75

Coordinated by

TEKNOLOGIAN TUTKIMUSKESKUS VTT OY
Finland

Periodic Reporting for period 5 - ComSos (Commercial-scale SOFC systems)

Reporting period: 2022-09-01 to 2023-08-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Decentralized cogeneration is a key means to significantly improve the efficiency of energy production, especially for applications with a high temperature heat demand and limitations on electrical infrastructur. In this respect, fuel cell based CHP systems provide the best performance and customer value with electrical efficiencies from 50- 60% in the power classes of more than 10kW using the existing high quality, low-cost gas grid or biogas based renewable fuel sources.

Through this project, manufacturers prepare for developing capacity for serial manufacturing, sales and marketing of mid FC CHP products. All manufacturers will validate new product segments in collaboration with the respective customers and confirm product performance, the business case and size, and test in real life the distribution channel including maintenance and service. In function of the specific segments, the system will be suitable for volumes from few 10’s to several 1,000 systems per year. These systems are designed to readily step-up to 100’s or over 1,000 systems per year respectively, which is the level identified by the FCH JU Distributed Generation study as creating the unit cost required for commercial take-off. This is, combined with further technological development of the systems and value engineering in stack manufacturing, such that the systems which will be developed based on learnings gained in the ComSos project will have the price point and cost/volume dynamics ready for commercialization.

The overall objectives of the ComSos project are following:
• Demonstrate and validate Mini FC-CHP
• EU worldwide leadership in Mini FC-CHP market
• Lever uCHP volumes and cost reductions in additional FC applications
• Confirm investment opportunity for additional jobs creation for Mini FC-CHP

The specific key objective of the ComSos project is to validate and demonstrate fuel cell based combined heat and power solutions in the mid-sized power range (referred to as Mini FC-CHP). The outcome gives proof of the superior advantages of such systems, underlying business models, and key benefits for the customer. The technology and product concepts have been developed in Europe under supporting European frameworks such as the FCH-JU. The overall target amount of installations is more than 20 units with a total power output of at least 450 kW, distributed as follows: Convion, 2 units of 60kWe each (total 120 kWe), Sunfire, 5 units of 25kWe each (total 150 kWe) and Solydera, 20 units of 9kWe each (total 180kWe).

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The results achieved were not totally in line with grant agreement: During the project only 321 kWe SOFC power has been installed in customer sites when the requirement was 450 kWe. Sunfire (150 kWe) and Convion (120 kWe) reached the installation target but not Solydera (51 kWe). However, additional 81 kWe SOFC power was constructed by Solydera but not installed in customers sites before the end of the project. These already constructed units will be installed customer sites after the project. Total SOFC power constructed during the project was then ca. 400 kWe. In addition, 9000 hours demonstration hours were not achieved in the case of all installed units but at least one unit from each manufacturer could has reached the 9000 hours requirement if end-customers have run the systems all the time. However, for some unknown reasons end customers shut down the systems every now and then. Each unit types from the manufacturers fulfilled the performance and emission target of ComSos project: Electrical efficiency > 50% and NOx emissions < 40 mg/kWh.

Major project achievements are following:
* Most of the demo sites have been identified but not all.
* All SOFC systems, provided by Sunfire GmbH and Convion, were installed.
* All Solydera units were not installed
* Business case analysis for the 10-50 kW systems has been made
* Detailed analysis for cost breakdown for SOFC systems have been finalized
* ComSos systems from all manufacturers have reached efficiency and emission targets (KPIs)

In the ComSos project, together with the partners selected for market deployment, the manufacturers identified first beachhead (niche markets) and develop a concept for the market deployment. The convenience of SOFC-based solutions with respect to the traditional energy supply system has been addressed in the analysis. In particular, the assessments provide insights on the energy and natural gas prices (i.e. the spark spread indicator) which makes the SOFC cost-effective. The analysis also explored different SOFC investment costs and stack lifetime.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The ComSos project aims at strengthening the European SOFC industry’s world-leading position for SOFC products in the range of 10-60 kW. Based on the positive dynamics generated through the FCH micro-CHP (μCHP) demonstration projects ene.field and PACE along with the German KfW433 program, there is the opportunity to establish a market in this yet underexploited segment. By installing manufacturing processes which are capable of reliable serial production of mid FC CHP appliances, and demonstrating that they can produce products that achieve the required longevity in the field, the ComSos project will de-risk future investments in the final manufacturing scale-up to commercial volume (>10,000 units/year for 12 kW, >100 units/year for 50 kW). This in turn will enable cost reductions required to allow mid FC CHP to compete against alternative ICE based cogeneration appliances in the regular market, whilst allowing profitable manufacturing for the suppliers. The reduced emissions of mid FC CHP clearly allow an expansion of the market in electricity constrained areas such as city centers.

The environmental benefits of a shift to fuel cell mid FC CHP derive from a reduction in overall primary energy use of circa 25% as compared to a conventional boiler and electrical grid mix option. In the short term, with the current grid mix, a comparable CO2 emission reduction is expected. With their high efficiency, fuel cells in distributed generation can yield substantial CO2 savings in the building sector and various industrial applications – especially when building on the natural gas infrastructure in the transition period towards a carbon-free European power mix and even beyond given the zero-emission potential of the fuel cell technology. The direct environmental impacts expected from the project, based on a deployment more than 20 units (450 kWe) will be an emissions reduction of well over 1,200 tCO2/year. As the overall electrical grid mix decarbonizes in Europe due to additional renewable and energy generation efficiency measures, the overall CO2 emissions avoided from a mid FC CHP unit will decrease without a concurrent “greening” of the natural gas grid. A number of sources have emerged in recent years from biogas to gas derived from power to gas projects, which have the potential to secure the long term decarbonization of gas grids across Europe and hence ensure that mid FC CHP is more than simply a transition technology and that it will have a role in the long term future of a European energy system. Stationary fuel cells can nearly fully eliminate local emissions of pollutants like NOx and SOx as well as particulates – a particular advantage for urban population centres where local emissions tend to become a drain on the standard of living and governments are already putting regulatory limits in place.

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