SECA Program Overview and Status

The overall objective of the Solid State Energy Conversion Alliance (SECA), a U.S. Department of Energy program coordinated and managed by the National Energy Technology Laboratory, is the development of advanced power generation system technology. Specifically, the systems being developed, for central-station (>100 MWe) application, and based on solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) technology, are to be cost-effective and operate with high electric efficiency. Further, their designs must provide for effective carbon (CO2) capture, and they must restrict the emission of other pollutants (eg, Hg, NOx, SOx) and conserve water. Historically, the fuel basis for this development has been coal, our major domestic energy source. This continues to be the focus. However, the program is cognizant that the SOFC technology developed to meet design objectives could be adapted for implementation in advanced power generation systems fueled with natural gas. Thus, there could be strong synergy between efforts to develop advanced coal-fueled power generation, as in the SECA program, and any parallel effort by the program participants to develop natural gas-fueled distributed-generation SOFC power systems. A natural gas-fueled distributed power generation system could be first to the marketplace, which would provide early manufacturing and operational experience on large commercial scale that would benefit SOFC power system developments with both fuels. SECA program status is reviewed.