JFE Steel and CBMM partner to develop high-performance stainless steels for the energy sector

The increase in global demand for clean energy and reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have been the main drivers for the development of new technologies on power generation.

Solid Oxide Electrochemical Cells (SOC), including Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFC) and its reverse Solid Oxide Electrolysis Cells (SOEC), have gained popularity on this scenario due to high efficiency and reduced GHG emissions for energy and hydrogen production.

Several projects for the implementation of these technologies have been initiated around the globe and many industrial plants are already operational, with capacities up to 80MW [1].

Previous generations of SOFC operated in extreme temperature ranges (up to 1000 °C), which required outstanding performance from the stack materials.

And even if recent advancement in the cell stacking design enabled the operating temperatures to decrease to lower ranges (700 – 850 °C), issues like creep deformation, oxidation performance and electrical conductivity are still important factors to ensure good efficiency of these systems.

With these challenges in mind, JFE Steel and CBMM have been working together on the development and industrialization of a new stainless steel that could revolutionize the energy market.

JFE-FC1 is a Niobium (Nb) bearing stainless steel that does not require any coating for the application on the interconnectors of SOFC & SOEC, due to the formation of an unique oxide scale that will maintain the protective function of the components even without a coating.

The usage of Nb Technology in the alloy design helps on the formation and stability of this unique oxide layer, which is an important breakthrough as most of the solutions available in the market today have a costly coating system to avoid uncontrolled oxidation and other problems, such as Chromium vaporization.

In parallel, the addition of Nb increases creep resistance of the JFE-FC1 during the application, guaranteeing high temperature performance and mechanical stability of the stacks.

2. (JFE, 2025) JFE Steel’s New Ferritic Stainless Steel for SOFC Interconnects Achieves Oxidation Resistance and Conductivity without Requiring Coating |JFE Steel Corporation

The development of JFE-FC1 is an important example where the use of smart Nb alloying enables a strong growth in stainless steels performance and ultimately provides the energy sector with more break-through materials to tackle the challenges of the future.
To learn more about this grade, we invite you to visit the JFE Steel website.

Reference:

1. BLOOM ENERGY. Bloom Energy Announces World’s Largest Fuel Cell Installation in History. Bloom Energy, Nov. 7, 2024. Accessed on: Mar. 7, 2025.
2. JFE STEEL CORPORATION, JFE Steel’s New Ferritic Stainless Steel for SOFC Interconnects Achieves Oxidation Resistance and Conductivity without Requiring Coating, JFE Steel News Release, Jan. 8, 2025. Accessed on: Mar. 7, 2025.