Solid oxide fuel cell technology provider, Bloom Energy, has reached a power capacity agreement with Intel Corporation that will result in Silicon Valley’s largest-fuel cell-powered high-performance computing data centre.
The agreement calls for the installation of additional megawatts of Bloom Energy’s fuel-cell-based Energy Server at Intel’s existing high-performance computing data centre in Santa Clara, CA. The additional capacity expands an existing Bloom Energy fuel cell installation already deployed at the tech giant’s location, operating since 2014.
Bloom says its fuel cell technology offers an ideal power solution for energy-intensive data centres that demand reliable electricity generation.
Bloom’s offerings can be deployed as grid parallel in conjunction with utility power to meet dual source energy needs of a datacentre or as grid independent, completely avoiding transmission infrastructure. With the ability to operate in a fully islanded microgrid mode, grid independent configurations circumvent delays, costs, and constraints associated with grid-based power and can be deployed in weeks on a skid mounted, moveable platform.
“Bloom Energy is proud to be a long-term supplier to Intel and to support the company’s data center capacity building at a time when the grid is severely constrained,” said Ravi Prasher, Bloom Energy’s Chief Technology Officer. “Bloom Energy technology is compatible with hydrogen fuel in addition to natural gas. We are working with governments and industries to adopt hydrogen as a primary fuel when it becomes economically viable. Intel’s confidence in our fuel cell technology is a testament to Bloom’s ability to reliably meet the energy needs of cutting edge and high-performance IT infrastructure.”
The existing hyperscale Intel Santa Clara datacentre is operating at 1.06 PUE (power usage effectiveness) , “enabling the HPC (high performance computing) scale needed for complex Intel chip design and technology development,” said Shesha Krishnapura, Intel Fellow, and Intel IT Chief Technology Officer. “To meet additional HPC scale needed for Intel Products and Intel Foundry, Intel is leveraging Bloom Energy technology to power the next datacentre expansion.”
Piston power
Meanwhile, Wärtsilä and energy solutions business AVK-SEG have signed a co-operation agreement aimed at meeting data centres’ “unique power requirements”, noting that “to be efficient, data centres require a reliable and uninterrupted electricity supply,” whereas “in many cases, grid connections are unable to provide the necessary level of reliability, meaning that on-site power generation becomes essential.”
“Combining AVK’s 30-year track record in power system design for data centres and Wärtsilä’s expertise in designing and manufacturing high-efficiency medium-speed [reciprocating] engines, we can ensure a reliable power supply for these critical operations,” says Kenneth Engblom, Vice President, Africa & Europe at Wärtsilä Energy.
Under the terms of the agreement, AVK will carry out the design and installation of on-site power generation for use as the primary power source for data centres. Wärtsilä will provide the engineered equipment and maintenance support. The main focus of the combined approach will be the growing European data centre market, the companies say. Power requirements are “driven largely by generative AI, which can require a lot more power per query than traditional search.”
“We are seeing increasing demand for alternative power solutions for grid-constrained data centres”, said Ben Pritchard, CEO, AVK.
Wärtsilä and AVK are currently executing two energy centre projects in Ireland.
Wärtsilä’s says its engines are “developed to be ready for sustainable fuels as they become available.”
The nuclear option
Looking a little further into the future, Oklo, which describes itself as “a fast fission clean power technology and nuclear fuel recycling company” has announced a collaboration with Wyoming Hyperscale to supply 100 MW of nuclear power to a state-of-the-art data centre campus. The companies say they have signed a non-binding letter of intent outlining their plan to enter into a 20-year power purchase agreement, highlighting what Oklo says is its “commitment to providing reliable and scalable clean power solutions in response to the increasing demand for electricity driven by global digitalisation and artificial intelligence adoption.”
Trenton Thornock, Founder and Managing Member of Wyoming Hyperscale, emphasised the project’s commitment to reimagining traditional data centre development practices. “Our goal is to create data centres with minimal environmental impact. This collaboration with Oklo perfectly aligns with our vision for sustainable, efficient operations. By merging sustainability with advanced technology, we are setting a new standard for the future of accelerated computing.”
