NGK SPARK PLUG : Expands the Use of Planar Solid-Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) Stacks from Household to Commercial and Industrial Applications NEW

We had been developing planar SOFC only for household use so far. However, we decided to expand the uses of SOFC from household to commercial and industrial uses in line with the strong demand for SOFC in the dispersed power source market.

From the viewpoint of economical rationality, SOFC for commercial and industrial uses are required to have high efficiency and long-term reliability, and we are working on the development and evaluation of SOFC for commercial and industrial uses to respond to the performance requirements from a fuel-cell system manufacturer that supplies cell stacks to us.

As part of the development and evaluation, we have started verification tests of SOFC for commercial and industrial uses as our SOFC are adopted by Hitachi Zosen. These SOFC for commercial and industrial uses are now installed in the Izumi Center of the Osaka Research Institute of Industrial Science and Technology (Director: Masami Nakamoto, Headquarters: Izumi-shi, Osaka, hereafter ORIST) with the cooperation of the Battery Strategy Research Center established by Osaka Prefecture.
Hitachi Zosen and ORIST are jointly planning to evaluate the safety and the reliability of these SOFC by performing a 4,000 or more hour continuous running test. They are also planning to study, test, and evaluate the constitutional elements of the SOFC with the aim of further upgrading. We will also continue to participate in their verification tests through the development of planar SOFC.

Note: This business project is mainly promoted by Hitachi Zosen to develop SOFC for commercial and industrial uses. The project 'the Practical Technology Demonstration of Commercial Systems with Solid-Oxide Fuel Cells' is supported by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO). It is also part of the HOsaka Vision Promotion Conference, which is a joint project between Osaka Prefecture and Osaka City that aims to create advanced hydrogen projects.
We will continue to accumulate a track record of developing fuel cell stacks for commercial and industrial uses and expand fuel cell stack supply business in diversified power ranges and applications, aiming to gain a 50% share of planner SOFC for household use as well as for commercial and industrial uses in the domestic market. As a fuel cell stack manufacture, we will make efforts to contribute to an environmentally friendly society