Solid Oxide Electrolyser Technology

Denmark’s plan to increase the share of renewable energy supply to 100 % over the coming 35 years will lead to a need for large-scale storage of wind and solar power. High temperature solid oxide electrolysis cells (SOEC) can provide regulating services to the electrical power grid and produce energy rich gasses like hydrogen and carbon monoxide. Such gases can be used to produce CO₂-neutral hydrocarbon fuels to replace existing fossil fuels. Alternatively, they can be converted back to electricity in a gas turbine or by running the SOEC in the reverse mode as a fuel cell.

The SOEC technology has been developed significantly over the last decade, but there are still challenges related to degradation, robustness, and cost that must be met before upscaling can be realized. In relation to this, certain niche markets can serve as stepping-stones for further maturing of the technology.

The objectives of this project are to:

1. Mitigate the main known degradation and robustness challenges on cell and stack level.
2. Demonstrate pressurized reversible operation, which can reduce system cost and improve efficiency.