Centrica and Ceres speed up fuel cell deployment amid UK grid delays

Centrica and Ceres are collaborating to deploy low-carbon fuel cells: a solid oxide on-site power solution should meet the multi-gigawatt demand from commercial and industrial customers across the UK and Europe.

Centrica, an energy company serving 28 million customers across the UK, Ireland, and US, said that electricity grid connection delays are impacting new industrial, commercial and digital projects, causing the UK and Europe to experience a widening gap between demand and available capacity. 

Through their collaboration with Ceres, a UK-based clean energy technology developer, Centrica says they will be able to offer high-efficiency, low-carbon, grid-independent on-site power that can be deployed much faster than gas turbines or nuclear.

Ceres will assist Centrica with opportunities across project origination, installation and commissioning, remote monitoring, predictive maintenance and end of life recycling. 

In addition, Centrica is also exploring how Ceres’ high efficiency SOEC technology could integrate with its AMR programme to produce nuclear enabled green hydrogen, strengthening the UK’s long term clean energy strategy.

Tech and platform combination

Under the partnership, Centrica will leverage its energy supply, trading and services platform alongside Ceres’ advanced Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) and Solid Oxide Electrolysis Cell (SOEC) technologies for fast, scalable deployment of the tech.

The partners say their collaboration will enable high efficiency, fuel flexible, on site generation for data centres, AI compute hubs, advanced manufacturing, logistics and distribution centres, as well as other critical commercial and industrial applications. 

Commenting in a release was Chris O’Shea, Chief Executive of Centrica plc: “Businesses across the UK and Europe need more power, and they need it faster than the electricity grids can deliver. 

“This partnership is about offering customers a reliable, efficient source of on site power that can be up and running quickly.”

Have you read:
RWE plans gas peaker plants to meet US data centre power demand
UK supercomputer Sunrise to tackle fusion energy challenges

According to O’Shea, Ceres’ technology with their energy expertise opens opportunity to “support data centres, AI and industry with cleaner power at scale, while helping to ease pressure on the grid and boost economic growth.”

Phil Caldwell, CEO of Ceres, echoed the sentiment: “This partnership is a powerful realisation of British technology applied at global scale. 

“Leveraging Centrica’s energy capabilities and Ceres’ global network of world class manufacturing partners, we can deliver low carbon, high efficiency power solutions for the fast growing data centre and on site power sector in the UK and Europe.”

Grid delays in the UK

Centrica and Ceres’ partnership announcement comes weeks after an announcement by the UK Government to strengthen conditions for joining and remaining in the queue for demand connections, prioritising strategically important projects, such as AI data centres and industrial sites. 

According to the government in a release, the queue for demand connections to the UK’s transmission network grew by 460% in the 6 months to June 2025. 

Speculative applications, they say, are inflating the pipeline, delaying connections for strategically important projects. This has contributed to waits of up to 15 years for projects to connect to the grid.

To address this, the government is consulting on measures to tackle speculative applications, address the oversubscribed queue, and accelerate viable projects that will benefit Britain. This includes data centres and AI growth zones, EV charging hubs and electrified industrial sites.

At the time, said Kayte O’Neill, NESO Chief Operating Officer in a release: “The surge in demand applications shows the strength of investment interest across Great Britain, but the demand connections pipeline must reflect projects that are credible, ready and committed to progressing. 

“We are committed to working with government, industry and Ofgem to prioritise strategically important projects, while removing speculative applications. This will ensure data centres, industrial sites and vital public services can access clean, reliable power, while also supporting growth, innovation and jobs across Britain.”