Metal-supported SOFCs are believed to have high potential for commercialization due to lower material costs and higher robustness in fabrication and operation. However, the development of the cell is challenged by the metal properties during fabrication, and the necessary lower operating temperatures, while retaining both the energy output and the stability. The metal-supported SOFC design developed at Risø DTU has been optimized to an ASR value of 0.62 cm2 at 650 °C, and a steady degradation rate of 1.0% kh-1 demonstrated for 3000 h on a 16 cm2 active cell level. Additional improvement in the performance has been demonstrated possible with cobalt-based cathode materials in combination with a magnetron sputtered CGO cathode barrier layer. Initial ASR values down to 0.27 cm2 at 650 °C and power densities up to 1.14 Wcm-2 was observed with this design on a 0.5 cm2 active cell level. ©2011 COPYRIGHT ECS - The Electrochemical Society