Field experience with molten carbonate fuel cells (MCFCs) and solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) with an emphasis on degradation

Fuel cells are a very important technology for a utility because they could affect our core business in the future. In the near future, if an increasing number of households produce their own electricity, then we might have to cope with a decline in sales. For this reason, Energie Baden-Wurttemberg AG (EnBW) had embarked on the first fuel cell project at the end of the year 2001 to gain experience with the technical and economical maturity of this technology. Since then, more than 20 projects have followed; hence, we have good experience concerning the operation of fuel cell systems. For our business, it is important to assess the state of the art of the systems. Therefore, we are carrying out a great variety of demonstration projects. In this report, we summarize the results of the operation of our fuel cell systems and our experience concerning degradation issues. The relevant systems are 16 solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) HXS 1000 PREMIERE from Hexis, 1 Galileo 1000 N from Hexis, and 2 molten carbonate fuel cells (MCFCs) Hot Modules from CFC Solutions (formerly MTU). The SOFC systems are suited for home energy supply in different buildings. The two MCFC systems have an electrical output of a maximum of 250 kW and a thermal output of a maximum of 180 kW. One of these has been operated with natural gas and the other with biogas for the first time worldwide. Keywords: MCFC; SOFC; degradation; Mingolsheim; Leonberg; Mohringen; Karlsruhe; Michelin; Albstadt; Reutlingen