A new peer-reviewed study, co-authored by SolydEra experts, reports 25,000 hours of steam electrolysis operation on a full 70-cell SOEC stack, highlighting the potential of advanced operational control to significantly improve long-term durability.
SolydEra is proud to have contributed to a new scientific study published in Nature Communications, focused on one of the key challenges for the industrial deployment of Solid Oxide Electrolysis technology: long-term durability.
The paper, “Record stack durability in industrial solid oxide steam electrolysis through operational control,” reports 25,000 hours of operation on a full 70-cell Solid Oxide Electrolysis Cell stack.
Following an initial conditioning phase, the stack maintained highly stable operation for approximately 22,000 hours, with an average voltage degradation rate of only 0.05% per 1,000 hours.
A key element of the research is the application of an AC operating strategy, based on periodic polarity inversion between electrolysis and fuel cell operation. The study shows how advanced operational control can help mitigate important degradation mechanisms and support more stable long-term performance.
These results are particularly relevant for the scale-up of high-temperature electrolysis, where efficiency alone is not enough. Long operating life, reliability and stable performance are essential to make Solid Oxide technology competitive for industrial hydrogen production.
SolydEra contributed directly to the study through Dario Montinaro, SolydEra S.p.A., and Jan Pieter Ouweltjes, SolydEra SA, among the paper’s co-authors.
The publication reflects the value of collaboration between industry and research in addressing the challenges that matter most for commercial deployment. For SolydEra, it also reinforces a key priority: combining technology development, industrial know-how and operational experience to support the transition of Solid Oxide solutions from advanced research to large-scale applications.
Read the full paper:
ABOUT SolydEra:
SolydEra is a leading international player in solid oxide technology, developing and manufacturing cells, stacks, modules and solutions for efficient power generation and hydrogen production. Its technology platform operates in fuel cell, electrolysis and reversible modes, enabling flexible applications across distributed power, industrial energy, data centres, critical infrastructure and hydrogen. SolydEra combines more than two decades of experience with automated manufacturing capabilities and R&D activities in Italy, Switzerland and Australia.
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