Tech giants are tapping fuel cell developers and providers to power data and AI computing centers with technology that is cleaner and faster to implement than a conventional gas-powered electricity source.

Fuel cells generate electricity by directly converting chemical energy into electrical energy without combustion. This technology can run on a variety of fuels, including hydrogen, natural gas, and biogas.

As power grids become congested with the surge in power demand due to the AI boom, fuel cells could offer distributed power generation and power for remote locations without the time needed for permitting and building a gas-fired power plant.

The lower environmental footprint with fewer emissions and reduced water use in fuel cell technology is also key to Big Tech’s ambitions and pledges to be less carbon-intensive while expanding computing power.

So, some of the biggest technology companies in the United States have contracted power solutions from fuel cell developers and providers-a market segment that’s expected to boom in the coming years alongside the explosive AI growth.

Fuel cells could allow companies to spin up a new source of low-carbon-emission electricity relatively quickly, Goldman Sachs Research said in a report late last year.

Power demand growth from data centers could be energy’s “most important incremental use since the industrial revolution,” said Michele Della Vigna, head of Natural Resources Research in EMEA at Goldman Sachs Research.Related: Hormuz Draft Agreement Reportedly Awaits Khamenei Approval

The investment bank estimates that 6-15% of incremental data center power demand, or 25-50% of total behind-the-meter power generation supply, could ultimately be provided through fuel cells. This would correspond to roughly 8-20 GW of fuel cell capacity required to supply electricity by 2030.

Fuel cell systems have several advantages compared to gas turbines for gas-combustion power generation, according to Goldman Sachs. These include shorter time to market-modular fuel cell systems can be deployed in less than a year compared to lead times for turbines that have now stretched to 5+ years. Fuel cells are 10-30% more efficient than gas turbines, operate with much lower noise, and produce no NOx and CO emissions. Fuel cells also offer stronger load versatility than gas turbines, which means they are better suited to support the steady baseload needs of data centers.

Despite the promises of this technology, current deployment is constrained because of the small manufacturing capacity, Goldman Sachs says, but reckons this could soon change with expected manufacturing expansion in the United States and Asia.

Some Big Tech companies are not waiting for manufacturing expansion; they have already tapped fuel cell systems to power some data and AI centers.

For example, Bloom Energy is deploying its fuel cell technology at select Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) data centers in the U.S. Fuel cell developer Bloom Energy also has a long-standing relationship with Equinix, and its fuel cells are supplementing grid power at 19 Equinix IBX data centers in six states with cleaner and reliable on-site power.

“As the demand for power increases, we anticipate innovation in alternative energy technologies increasingly playing a key role in the availability of power going forward,” David Rinard, Vice President of Energy Operations at Equinix, said last year.

Equinix, which has been using Bloom Energy’s fuel cell technology for a decade, says that fuel cells are highly efficient and enable Equinix to avoid 285,000 tons of CO2e emissions and 382 billion gallons of embedded water use. The digital infrastructure giant also has agreements with next-generation nuclear providers Oklo, Radiant, ULC-Energy, and Stellaria, as it looks to boost alternative energy supply for its data centers.

“With innovation and investments in a wide variety of power generation technologies, data centers have the potential to shift from being energy consumers to being grid assets,” Christopher Wellise, VP, Sustainability at Equinix, said last year.

Another developer, FuelCell Energy, announced this year a strategic agreement with Fit Energy for up to 380 megawatts (MW) of on-site power for data centers using FuelCell Energy’s utility-scale fuel cell technology.

“In effect, we are focused on extending the grid to the data center, enabling customers to accelerate time-to-power, reducing dependence on constrained transmission infrastructure, removing permitting friction, and supporting the growing energy demands of AI-driven compute environments with proven, scalable technology,” Jason Few, President and CEO of FuelCell Energy, said in an earnings release in June.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

https://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Fuel-Cells/Big-Tech-Turns-to-Fuel-Cells-to-Power-the-AI-Boom.amp.html