Solid Oxide Fuel Cells potentially offer many advantages over conventional power generation in terms of efficiency and environmental acceptability, but it essential that cost of the system is competitive for these benefits to be realised. This study evaluates the economic implications of a standalone stack design with a nominal 200kWe rating. The cost of the SOFC stack was estimated to be EUD71,000. This was dominated by labour and materials. To produce a full working system, balance and plant and installation costs need to be included. This increased the capital cost to EUD203,000. The system was costed over its predicted lifetime, and an estimate of the final cost of electricity was obtained. This ranged from?EUD0.0436/kWh to EUD0.0517/kWh depending on the power drawn from the unit. The sensitivity of the results to stack performance, durability and fuel price were evaluated.
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