by Brianna Crandall — April 4, 2014—The stationary fuel cell sector, whether for grid or commercial applications, continues to be the vanguard of the overall global fuel cell industry, according to a new report from market research and consulting firm Navigant Research. As the focus on grid stability increases and the costs associated with natural disasters rise, the use of fuel cells as small distributed power plants for grid stabilization and backup is moving forward more rapidly, in terms of megawatts and revenue, than any other fuel cell sector, says the firm. Global stationary fuel cell revenue is forecasted to grow from $1.4 billion in 2013 to $40.0 billion in 2022.
“With the growing need to enhance grid resiliency and the accelerating adoption of distributed generation technologies worldwide, the stationary fuel cell industry is well-positioned for growth over the next decade,” says Mackinnon Lawrence, research director with Navigant Research. “Expected to break through the $2 billion mark in annual revenue in 2014, stationary fuel cells are seeing increased financing options for adoption, particularly in the healthy residential combined heat and power segment.”
According to the report, the prime power market is led by three players: Bloom Energy, ClearEdge Power, and FuelCell Energy. These three companies are driving forward the deployment of large stationary fuel cells, with capacities in the tens of megawatts. At the end of 2013, 20 companies accounted for more than 95 percent of total revenue for the stationary fuel cell sector, according to the report. The downside to this concentration is an innovation pipeline that may not be robust enough to drive the technological advances that this emerging sector will require over the next 5 to 10 years, notes Navigant Research.
The report, Stationary Fuel Cells: Fuel Cells for Prime Power, Large CHP, Residential CHP, and UPS Applications: Global Market Analysis and Forecasts, analyzes the global market opportunity for stationary fuel cells across four key application segments: prime power, combined heat and power (CHP), residential CHP (resCHP), and uninterruptible power supply (UPS).
It provides a comprehensive assessment of the demand drivers, business models, and policy factors associated with the rapidly developing market for stationary fuel cells. Global revenue and capacity forecasts, segmented by application, region of manufacture, and electrolyte type, extend through 2022. The report also examines the main technology issues related to stationary fuel cells and includes in-depth profiles of key industry players. An Executive Summary of the report is available for free download on the Navigant Research Web site.
