Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Application (Transportation, Portable, Industrial), By Region (North America, Europe, Asia Pacific), And Segment Forecasts, 2023 - 2030

Report Overview

The global solid oxide fuel cell market size was valued at USD 463.7 million in 2022 and is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 41.5% from 2023 to 2030. The increasing private-public partnerships are one of the key factors fostering market growth. Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) are one of the fastest-growing alternate backup power options, primarily due to their ability to generate electricity using a variety of fuels. In addition, they are eco-friendly as their by-product is harmless, unlike other conventional technologies. The U.S. is among the early adopters of clean energy solutions for sectors such as power generation and transportation. This can be attributed to the increased importance of clean energy solutions as per the energy act introduced by the U.S. government. Such acts have provided a starting guideline regarding implementing clean energy solutions in the country’s energy sector.

Favorable government regulations and their ability to cut down emission rates and use domestic sources of energy such as natural gas are some of the key factors likely to boost the market over the next eight years. Furthermore, the rising emphasis of the regional governments of mature economies such as the U.S. and Europe on reducing emissions and their inclination toward a technological shift to support or, to some extent, even replace the aging electric grids is likely to drive the market over the forecast period.

COVID-19 has hindered the market for SOFC globally owing to factors such as disruption in the supply chain, which delayed some projects. Further, demand has been reduced for SOFC systems deployed in residential and commercial end-user segments due to limited new construction activities and the diversion of available funds by residential and commercial end-users to sustain the COVID-19 pandemic.

Application Insights

The stationary application segment led the market and accounted for 81.59% revenue share in 2022. A stationary solid oxide fuel cell system is one of the cleanest and most efficient heat and electricity generation technologies. The performance of these systems is focused on three high-level parameters, including net electrical efficiency, overall efficiency in the case of cogeneration, and durability.

European countries such as France and the U.K. are investing heavily in the R&D of solid oxide fuel cells for power generation and transportation applications. The factors above are anticipated to boost the growth of the stationary application segment in the SOFC market over the forecast period.

Collaboration among SOFC vendors and transportation sector vendors is expected to develop SOFC-based systems for transportation applications over the forecast period. For instance, in December 2020, AVL and Ceres signed a strategic collaboration for fuel cell development in order to accelerate product development of SOFC technology across stationary, transportation, and various other applications. With this collaboration, both companies will use a combination of their intellectual property portfolios of solid oxide fuel cell systems to offer new solutions to their clients.

Regional Insights

sia Pacific dominated the global market in 2022 and accounted for the largest revenue share of over 49.48%. Asia Pacific is anticipated to account for a major share of the global capacity demand in the coming years, with Japan being the epicenter of this demand. Solid oxide fuel cells majorly find wide-scale applications in the stationary segment in Asia Pacific. The market is expected to witness the highest growth rate over the forecast period.

Countries such as India, Singapore, and Malaysia are still in the process of framing regulations to support the growth of alternative energy markets. The demand for solid oxide fuel cells in India, Thailand, and Singapore is driven by research institutes and government bodies involved in testing the operating hours of solid oxide fuel cells. These factors are expected to boost the growth of the SOFC market in the region over the forecast period.

Solid oxide fuel cells majorly find wide-scale applications in the stationary segment in North America. The market is expected to witness the highest growth rate over the forecast period. The solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) market in the U.S. has developed at a tremendous rate and is growing significantly compared to the rest of the world on account of strong government support and strategic market focus.

Germany is among the leading markets for SOFCs applications in the European region. This can be attributed to structured energy policies and concrete targets introduced by the government of Germany. The future development of technologies related to solid oxide fuel cells has also been defined in the energy policies.

Key Companies & Market Share Insights

In recent years, commercialization of SOFC systems has started with specific niche markets, such as small-scale combined heat and power (CHP) in Japan, on-site power generations, especially for data centers and military applications in the U.S. Majority of the market participants have focused their research and development activities to develop SOFCs for multiple applications. As a result, the market has witnessed a number of public-private partnerships.

Even though the market participants are slowly getting approval from policymakers for demonstrating their projects, the industry players have an uphill task of bringing down the cost and improving quality. In the coming years, the market is expected to witness introductory programs for micro-CHP systems targeting the residential sector. Some prominent players in the global solid oxide fuel cell market include:

• Bloom Energy

• Mitsubishi Power Ltd.

• Cummins Inc.

• Ceres

• General Electric

• FuelCell Energy Inc.

• Ningbo SOFCMAN Energy

• KYOCERA Corporation

• AVL

• NGK SPARK PLUG CO., LTD.

Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Market Report Scope 

Global Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Market Report Segmentation

This report forecasts revenue growth and provides an analysis of the latest trends in each of the sub-segments from 2018 to 2030. For this report, Grand View Research has segmented the global solid oxide fuel cell market based on application and region:

• Application Outlook (Volume, Thousand Units, Capacity, kW, Revenue, USD Million. 2018 - 2030)

  • Transportation

  • Portable

  • Stationary

• Regional Outlook (Volume, Thousand Units, Capacity, kW, Revenue, USD Million, 2018 - 2030)

  • North America

    • U.S.

  • Europe

    • Germany

    • France

    • U.K.

  • Asia Pacific

    • China

    • Japan

    • South Korea

  • Rest of World