Throughout the 1980s fundamental work on electrochemical materials was carried out in the Materials Research Department. This led to an SOFC project in 1987. In the late 1980s fuel cell research in Denmark was spread out on a number of different projects, but meetings between the Danish Energy Authority, the Danish power utilities, industry and Risø led to consensus on focusing the efforts on SOFC. The result was the project DK-SOFC with Risø as project leader and with the participation of the Danish companies Haldor Topsøe A/S and IRD Fuel Cells A/S as well as the University of Southern Denmark and the Technical University of Denmark.
The first Danish cell was electrolyte supported. It was demonstrated in 1995 in a 500 watt fuel cell stack. In the late 1990s Risø could demonstrate a relatively cheap, anode supported cell which had a low internal resistance at a comparatively low temperature. With the prospect of industrial commercialization now being in place, a large-scale project was launched with financing from the Danish Energy Authority, the electricity transmission system operators Eltra and Elkraft System, and the DK-SOFC project participants. One of the results of the project was the building of Risø's pre-pilot production facility, inaugurated in 2002.
In 2001 the promising results led Risø and Haldor Topsøe to enter into a consortium agreement which for five years guarantees a substantial research effort at Risø. In 2004 Topsoe Fuel Cell A/S was founded as a wholly owned subsidiary of Haldor Topsøe, and in 2006 Risø and Topsoe Fuel Cell signed a new five year consortium agreement. As a result of the continued growth in Risø's activities, a new department for Fuel Cells and Solid State Chemistry was created in 2006. In addition to SOFC the department is involved in a number of related topics, which are described in detail here
Page updated by --- 18.04.2007