Delta Electronics outlines SOFC pathway for data-center power in India

Delta Electronics has outlined plans to expand its presence in India following a meeting between Chairman Ping Cheng, Delta India President Benjamin Lin and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The discussions covered energy transition, AI infrastructure and smart manufacturing, while Delta said it intends to expand local manufacturing capacity for both domestic demand and exports.

For the data-center sector, the central element is Delta’s intention to make solid oxide fuel cells a primary application for data centers. The company is positioning SOFC systems as a distributed-generation option for facilities where power-supply stability is critical. It has also included SOFCs and solid oxide electrolysis cells (SOECs) in its wider energy-transition strategy.

Delta says it completed SOFC technology transfer in 2024. Its stated commercialisation roadmap calls for pilot production in 2026, customer deployment and product shipments from 2027, and larger-scale deliveries in 2028. These dates remain forward-looking rather than evidence of operating installations or signed data-center deployments.

SOFC research and development is being undertaken in Tainan, Taiwan, while Delta plans to locate its first mass-production line at its Guanyin, Taoyuan factory. The company says it is working with about 20 Taiwanese companies across SOFC research and development, materials and manufacturing. Delta has operated in India for more than 20 years, and its LEED Gold-certified headquarters and R&D centre in Bengaluru are intended to serve as an engineering base in the country.

For operators and investors, the development is principally a supply-chain and product-roadmap signal. If executed, it could broaden the equipment options available for distributed power at AI data centers. The available information does not identify customers, installed or planned SOFC capacity, deployment volumes, investment levels, or specific Indian manufacturing sites.