German fuel cell company SFC Energy recently announced that they are delivering approximately €42 million worth of combat-proven fuel cell systems to Ukraine, providing portable and stationary power for defence and civilian applications in a war where electricity was once impossible to supply.
Speaking to Resilience, SFC Energy CEO Peter Podesser said the systems are designed to provide reliable power with less weight than comparable alternatives, while also reducing the signatures that can expose soldiers, vehicles, and equipment on the battlefield. Essentially, they are silent cells that run on methanol and produce power just like a battery or, more precisely, a generator.
“I would say ninety-five percent of our system is all based on a liquid fuel,” said Podesser. “Therefore logistics is also pretty easy because it’s still a widely used organic alcohol that is also easily accessible. Well, naturally you have to put it in a proper canister and lid it properly.”
Podesser explained that the devices range in size from super portable to stationary.
“You can imagine starting from something that’s man portable, which is like a water or milk bottle,” he said. “The next bigger size is like a jerry can and then larger stationary systems they can go up let’s say to let’s say the size of a Pelican case or also in nineteen inch standard industrial sizing.”
According to Podesser, SFC’s systems produce “virtually no noise and no temperature signature,” a decisive feature in an environment where heat, sound, and electronic emissions can make units easier to detect. In Ukraine, where drones, sensors, and electronic warfare are everywhere, silent power is becoming more than a convenience. It is becoming a way to stay alive.
That history matters. SFC’s defence work goes back roughly 25 years, beginning with development for German forces and with funding from the US Army. The goal was to reduce weight and shrink the form factor by combining fuel cells with batteries.
“We have been in this business as one of the pioneers, with a clear focus on stationary and portable power,” Podesser said. “Liquid fuel helps to set up proper logistics in different regions.”
“You still keep the infrastructure unchanged,” Podesser said. “The battery is there as a storage media, as well as covering the peaks, and the fuel cell is at the end of the day the lightweight silent battery charger.”
Where possible, SFC also combines the systems with solar capacity, reducing operating hours and fuel consumption. That hybrid approach is what makes the technology practical in the field. It is not a standalone science project. It is a quieter, lighter way to keep existing equipment powered without adding another loud generator to the battlefield.
Modern battlefield systems are increasingly dependent on batteries. Communications equipment, sensors, auxiliary vehicle systems, and uncrewed ground and air platforms all need power. In the past, a unit might have relied on a conventional generator, but generators make noise, produce heat, consume fuel, and create signatures that can be detected.
SFC’s systems can charge batteries, power devices directly, or serve as auxiliary power sources for vehicles. Podesser said a vehicle could operate in a silent mode without starting its engine, while still running communications and sensing equipment. For uncrewed platforms, the fuel cell can extend range or recharge batteries without creating the same detectable signature as a traditional power source.
“It’s about making it smaller and increasing the power output per form factor, so it’s easier to integrate and easier to transport. I think the structural change we see, and the driver for this kind of technology now being used in active combat situations and wars like Ukraine, is the fact that most of modern warfare is going electric, and the need for electrical energy has quadrupled or is now tenfold the level it was a couple of years ago,” he said.
Podesser said the structural change now driving demand is that “most of this modern warfare goes electric,” with the need for electrical energy having increased fourfold or even tenfold compared with a few years ago. The fuel cell technology has been developed over 20 years, he said, but Ukraine has turned the requirement into an immediate operational need.
The next step for SFC is to keep reducing size while increasing power output. Podesser also sees further hybridisation with solar and fuel, along with AI-based tools that can analyse operating data and adapt systems to specific scenarios. That could mean optimising performance around ambient temperature, hours of use, mission profile, and fuel consumption.
Deliveries to Ukraine are expected within the year. SFC is also expanding internationally, including a recently started production operation in the United States, an earlier production footprint in India for defence and border security markets, and further activity in Asia, including Singapore.
As the battlefield becomes more electric, power supply becomes part of the combat system. Batteries, sensors, drones, radios, and vehicles all depend on energy, but energy has to be delivered without making the user easier to find. SFC aims to be the first line of offense when it comes to definitively solving the energy problem.
