Centrica and Ceres Power partner to accelerate fuel cell deployment amid grid delays (updated)

Ceres Power Holdings

26/03/2026 11:56

Adds quote from Ceres Power CEO, updates shares

March 26 (Reuters) - British Gas owner Centrica CNA.L and Ceres Power CWR.L announced a partnership on Thursday to deploy solid oxide fuel cell power solutions to meet the multi-gigawatt demand from commercial and industrial customers across the UK and Europe.

"Businesses across the UK and Europe need more power, and they need it faster than the electricity grids can deliver," said Centrica CEO Chris O'Shea.

Here are some key details of the partnership:

The partnership offers grid-independent on-site power that can be deployed faster than gas turbines or nuclear, addressing the widening gap between electricity demand and available grid capacity.

Ceres' solid oxide fuel cell technology operates on natural gas initially, with a pathway to biogas and hydrogen fuels, and is suited to carbon capture applications.

Centrica is exploring integration of Ceres' electrolyser technology with its advanced modular reactor programme to produce nuclear-enabled green hydrogen.

Target sectors include data centres, AI compute hubs, advanced manufacturing, logistics and distribution centres, and other critical commercial and industrial applications.

Under the collaboration, Ceres will support Centrica through project origination, installation and commissioning, among others.

Shares of Ceres Power are up 15.2% at 355.8 pence, while Centrica is down 0.5%.

"The beauty of this technology is not only is it more efficient than a combined cycle gas turbine but it's modular and can be deployed faster," said Ceres Power CEO, Phil Caldwell.

 (Reporting by Rishab Shaju in Bengaluru and Simon Jessop in London, Editing by Louise Heavens)

 ((Rishab.shaju@thomsonreuters.com ; +91 9048142177))