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For which sectors is our SOFC system suitable?

Working for the energy transition: our decentralized fuel cell system

Whether it’s deployed in an urban quarter, building, industrial plant, or data center, our Bosch SOFC system is always the right choice when an energy supply needs to provide electricity and heat not just with great efficiency, but also on a grid-independent basis and with maximum reliability and future-readiness. It’s all part of the energy transition, which we’re already associating with hydrogen.

The energy supply of the future is decentralized and flexible – characteristics that exactly describe the fuel cell system from Bosch. Our small power plant based on a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) can achieve even more, including more efficiency. In terms of numbers, its electrical efficiency is approximately 60 percent. When waste heat is utilized, its overall efficiency reaches up to 90 percent. Plus, it can be individually scaled as needed. The fuel-flexible SOFC system can already run on natural gas or biomethane today, and is ready to run on hydrogen in the future. If you’re wondering when that might be, we can say that our pilot plants are already proving that the fuel cell system is an important enabler of the energy transition, particularly in urban districts, buildings, industrial plants, and data centers. This is an important step for future series production.

The Bosch fuel cell system is suitable for many applications, including for supplying power to urban districts, buildings, industrial plants, and data centers – wherever decentralized power generation and independence from the power grid play a major role.

The applications for our SOFC system at a glance

The Bosch fuel cell supplies buildings in urban quarters with sustainable electricity and heat.

Sustainable power supply for buildings and urban quarters

Private households account for around a quarter of German end use energy consumption. Twenty percent of this energy is utilized in the form of electricity.

In the future, it will be possible to supply residential and office buildings within a district with decentralized, future-proof, and sustainable electricity and heat on site, thanks to our Bosch SOFC technology.

The SOFC system for buildings and urban quarters at a glance:

  • Low total cost of ownership
  • Efficient and decentralized power and heat generation
  • Performance class from 100 kilowatts, scalable to the megawatt range on a flexible basis
  • Quick and easy installation, thanks to plug-&-play design
  • Suitable for flexible integration into different systems
  • Long-term carbon neutrality (system is hydrogen-ready)
  • Future-proof investment
  • Low noise with minimal vibration
The SOFC system offers companies in the industry and trade sector a decentralized and reliable source of electricity and heat. Since it can be run using hydrogen as a fuel, the system will also reduce CO2 emissions to zero, which in turn will eliminate the carbon tax.

Reliable energy source for industry and trade

Nearly half of all electricity consumed in Germany can be attributed to the industrial sector. Industry and trade depend on a reliable, economical, and highly efficient supply of electricity and heat for their very existence. Our SOFC system is an excellent solution because it could prospectively reduce a site’s carbon footprint, making it an important piece of the energy transition puzzle.

The SOFC system for industry and trade at a glance:

  • Very high efficiency
  • Performance class from 100 kilowatts to the megawatt range
  • Decentralized and reliable energy source
  • Optimized total cost of ownership
  • Long-term carbon neutrality (system is hydrogen-ready)
As a decentralized and grid-independent energy source, the SOFC system can be flexibly scaled. This means it can meet the electricity and climate-control requirements of the growing number of data centers.

Modular and grid-independent power supply for data centers

The volume of data is growing exponentially and with it, the demand for computing capacity and thus data center performance. Whether centralized cloud data centers in larger cities or distributed networks of edge data centers located close to where the data is being generated – they all have similar goals when it comes to power supply: security of supply, sustainability, and scalability.

The SOFC system for data centers at a glance:

  • Flexible scalability from 100 kilowatts to the megawatt range
  • Decentralized, reliable, and grid-independent energy source for meeting electricity and climate control requirements
  • Added flexibility in selecting locations
  • Fast setup and simplified integration thanks to an extensive partner ecosystem
  • Optimized investment and operating costs
  • Long-term carbon neutrality (system is hydrogen-ready)

Decentralized power generation to meet specific requirements

Demands for energy are growing, as is the demand for reliable, decentralized power generation. Our fuel cell system offers many potential applications. In the future, it will be possible to combine multiple SOFC systems with an output of 100 kW each to create a decentralized energy supply system in the megawatt range. As part of a decentralized energy grid, the SOFC system can also be connected to other power generating systems in order to supply electricity and heat for various applications collectively. At the same time, our SOFC system can be integrated into a pre-existing infrastructure. With our plug-&-play solution, we are offering a standardized, ready-made system that includes all the relevant auxiliary systems so that on-site planning and installation work can be significantly reduced.

The Bosch SOFC system is currently in the pilot phase. All technical specifications given are development objectives and refer to the beginning of life.

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