(Plenary) The Status of SOFC and SOEC R&D in the European Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking Programme

Abstract

The Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU) was set up in 2008 to accelerate the development of fuel cells and hydrogen technologies in Europe towards commercialization from 2020 onwards. To reach this target the FCH JU brings together resources under a cohesive public-private partnership to ensure commercial focus, to match RTD activities to industry's needs and expectations and to scale-up and intensify links between the Industry Community and the Research Community. Supported topics cover all fuel cell technologies, SOFC being mostly developed for the stationary heat and power applications, while SOEC technologies are considered for the hydrogen production applications.There are different groups working in Europe on the SOFC/SOEC technologies and supported partially by the FCH JU. So far, around €218 million have been allocated to support 58 projects, which address specifically SOFC or SOEC technologies. Support to Solid Oxide technologies represents 40-50% of the support provided to energy-related projects. Largely thanks to this support, the EU is now a world leader on SOFC and SOEC technology with a well-established supply and value chain. In addition, a number of EU companies have commenced their efforts to increase their manufacturing capabilities with views to introduce their products beyond Europe. The FCH JU presentation will cover the status of R&D in Solid Oxide technologies in Europe including an overview of the European competiveness in this sector.Occurences of publications, conferences, patents for the period 2010-2021 for SOFCs (right) and SOECs (left) – source: Tools for Innovation Monitoring (TIM) Too, Joint Research Centre Figure 1