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Market Snapshot: Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Market

U.S. and global electricity demand are both expected to increase 50% or more by 2050. To meet anticipated demand, cleaner, more efficient, reliable, and affordable energy generation and storage solutions are needed. Solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) technology is a promising, efficient, low-emissions means of generating electricity from a range of fuels, including hydrogen, natural gas, biogas, and syngas. A recent U.S. House of Representatives Energy & Water Development Appropriations subcommittee report (July 2025) recommended up to $30 million to advance SOFC research and development.

SOFCs, which produce electricity by oxidizing gaseous fuels at high temperatures, are closely tied to solid oxide electrolysis cells (SOECs) and reversible solid oxide fuel cell (R-SOFC) systems. While SOFCs use hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity along with heat and water, SOECs use electricity, water, and heat to produce hydrogen gas, along with oxygen. R-SOFC systems are single, hybrid devices that can do both. SOFCs are the leading fuel cell technology for stationary applications and are well-suited to serving as continuous power supplies.

According to MarketsandMarkets, the global solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 31.2%, expanding from $2.98 billion in 2025 to $11.61 billion in 2030. These figures account for planar and tubular-type SOFCs and for the fuel cell stacks as well as the balance of the plant.* In these projections, analysts segment the market into portable, stationary, and transport applications and identify residential, commercial and industrial, data center, and military and defense customers as the major end user groups. MarketsandMarkets projects that data centers will be the fastest-growing end user group through 2030.

The fuel-to-electricity efficiency, near-zero emissions, and fuel flexibility of SOFCs, as well as the integration of R-SOFC systems with renewable energy sources, are driving market growth. As a result, substantial market opportunities are emerging. These include data centers, drones, battery chargers, distributed generation, microgrids, chemical and fuel production, transportation, and more. The high temperatures at which SOFCs operate make them an attractive option for industries using combined heat and power (CHP) systems to improve efficiency. However, SOFC technology is not without competition from other low-emissions fuel cell technologies, including molten carbonate (MCFC) and polymer electrolyte membrane (PEMFC) fuel cells. Currently, SOFC market growth is challenged by the high cost of high-durability materials needed for high-temperature operation.

Top players in the global SOFC market include Bloom Energy (U.S.), Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (Japan), AISIN Corp. (Japan), and Kyocera Corp. (Japan). The global SOFC market is fairly consolidated, as those four companies account for about 70-80% of the entire market, according to MarketsandMarkets. Other notable SOFC companies include Ceres Power (UK), Convion (Finland), Cummins (U.S.), Doosan Fuel Cell (S. Korea), Elcogen (Estonia), FuelCell Energy (U.S.), Miura (Japan), Nexceris (U.S.), Sunfire (Germany), WATT Fuel Cell (U.S.), and Bosch (Germany), which pivoted away from the SOFC business in early 2025 in favor of hydrogen-generating electrolyzers.

The DOE Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) supports the growth of the domestic market with its Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) Program,  initiated in 2000 and led by the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL). NETL’s SOFC team, under the Hydrogen with Carbon Management Program, conducts R&D projects  on “technical issues facing the commercialization of R-SOFC technologies and pilot-scale testing… to validate the solutions.” This line of inquiry is designed to “enable the generation of efficient, low-cost electricity and hydrogen.” Areas of focus include cell degradation characterization and modeling, advanced electrode engineering, and systems engineering and analysis. (See sample publications on OSTI.gov.)

To learn more about innovations in SOFCs, SOECs, and R-SOFCs, consider checking out these upcoming events in 2026:

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Fusion Energy Overview

Fusion is a potential energy source and occurs when one or more lighter elements combine to form a heavier element, releasing energy in the process. [1] Devices designed to harness this energy are known as fusion reactors. [2]   A future fusion plant could use the heat produced by the fusion reaction to produce steam to drive turbines or generators that produce electricity. [3] For almost a century, scientists around the globe have been looking to recreate and harness the power of fusion energy. [4]  

Tokamak
Source: ITER

There are two commonly pursued technologies to create and control plasma. Magnetic confinement uses strong magnets to contain plasma. A widely used configuration known as a tokamak[5] uses powerful magnets to confine the plasma within a toroidal reaction vessel, with the magnetic fields keeping the plasma away from the walls of the vessel to prevent damage and unintended cooling of the plasma.[6]  

Examples of U.S. companies developing magnetic confinement systems are Commonwealth Fusion Systems, TAE Technologies, Tokamak Energy, Helion Energy, and Thea Energy. Inertial confinement uses high-power lasers or electrical discharges to compress a small capsule of fusion fuel to extreme temperatures and pressures for a short time. This approach is used, for example, in the National Ignition Facility at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. [7] Examples of U.S. companies developing inertial confinement systems are Xcimer Energy, Focused Energy, ZAP Energy, and Shine Technologies. In addition to these methods, several companies such as General Fusion,  are pursuing various other pathways to try to create and control fusion reactions, including a hybrid of both magnetic and inertial confinement approaches. [8]

Various fusion fuels are used to power these pursued pathways. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, once developed, first-generation fusion plants may likely use a combination of abundant deuterium and lithium as fuel. [9] Deuterium, lithium and tritium Deuterium-tritium is a highly studied fusion fuel and a likely basis for the first fusion power plants.[10] Lithium is a critical resource for fusion because of its material properties. Lithium is used to breed tritium, the key fuel for fusion. [11] The rare lithium-6 form of the metal, which makes up only 7.5 per cent of all naturally occurring lithium, is the most efficient for sustaining the fusion process. [12] Li-6 is banned in the U.S. because of the harmful mercury waste it generates. [13] So most fusion power concepts rely on “enriched” lithium, where the Li-6 content has been boosted. [14]

Several companies are investing in efforts aimed at commercializing fusion energy. [15] Many of these companies are startups that have raised over $100 million in the past few years. [16]  The global fusion energy market size is projected to reach $611.8 billion by 2034, expanding at a CAGR of 5.56% from 2025 to 2034. [17] 

Current State - Projections of the time to putting Fusion Energy on the Grid

As of October 2025, fusion reactors remain pre-commercial, with no system yet producing net energy. Fusion energy stakeholders provide varying timelines as to when fusion energy will become technically feasible as an energy source for the electrical grid and when it will become commercially viable.  Projections range from 10 years to several decades in the future. [18]   Some companies are claiming that they will achieve commercial fusion energy in the next few years[19] while other stakeholders and experts said fusion energy will take more than 20 years. The Fusion Industry Association reported that many commercial companies predict fusion industry will be commercially viable in the 2030’s time frame. [19] 

Source: The Global Fusion Industry in 2025—Fusion Industry Association

Other stakeholders and experts believe fusion energy might put electricity on the grid in 10 to 20 years, however, significant resources are required to do so.[20] The Figure below illustrates commercialization risks that fusion energy will face on the road to commercial deployment. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the aspirational timeline as shown is strongly dependent on the level of both public and private investments. [21]

Commercialization risks for fusion

Source. U.S. Department of Energy, Fusion Energy Strategy 2024

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