The cell was supplied to EDB/ELSAM, a consortium of Netherlands and Danish utilities, by Siemens Westinghouse.
The high temperature fuel cell system was originally delivered for startup in December 1997. After 4035h of operation it was returned to the USA for modification. It restarted in March 1999 and completed close to 12 600h of operation before it was shut down last November. This unit will now be moved to a new site for continued operation.
At the point of shutdown the SOFC was providing 110kW with an electrical efficiency of over 46 per cent and 65kW of hot water to the local district heating system. Emissions of NOx, SOx, CO and VHCs were all below 1ppmv, Siemens Westinghouse claims. There was, the company said, no degradation in performance after the fuel cell stack was rebuilt.
Siemens Westinghouse is planning to commercialize the SOFC technology with cogeneration systems in the 250kW to 1MW range available in 2004. The technology has been developed under a cooperative agreement with US Department of Energy.
