Together, Brookfield and Bloom plan to design and build AI data centres using hydrogen-capable fuel cells to provide power in a bid to avoid grid constraints while reducing emissions.
Backed by a $5bn investment from Brookfield, the pair intend to deploy the solutions globally. The first of these plant sites is expected to be announced in Europe before the end of 2025.
The IEA estimates electricity demand from data centres could double by 2030 to 945TWh, which has raised concerns about grid connections and the increased use of fossil fuels in grids to supplement demand.
However, Brookfield’s Global Head of AI Infrastructure, Sikander Rashid, argues behind-the-meter power solutions could tackle this challenge.
“Bloom’s advanced fuel cell technology gives us the unique capability to design and construct modern AI factories with a holistic and innovative approach to power needs,” he said.
The US technology firm’s solid oxide fuel cells can use natural gas, biogas, or hydrogen to produce low or zero carbon dioxide emissions.
Many proponents of the technology claim it can be installed and used today using natural gas before transitioning to clean hydrogen once it becomes available.
It has already deployed “hundreds of megawatts” of systems to data centres in partnerships with American Electric Power (AEP), Equinix, and Oracle.
“AI factories demand massive power, rapid deployment, and real-time load responsiveness that legacy grids cannot handle,” Bloom CEO KR Sridhar stressed.
He said together with Brookfield, the firm would “reimagine” the data centre of the future.
Despite over $100bn of global digital infrastructure investments, it marks the investment firm’s first AI-focused strategy.
Why hydrogen could play a role in primary power for data centres
Energy demands for data solutions have skyrocketed as internet usage has grown 25-fold in the past 14 years1. Data centres and data transmission networks now consume 1-1.5% of global electricity and, since 2023, have been responsible for 1% of energy-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
In July, Google grabbed headlines when it revealed its its GHG emissions increased by 48% above its 2019 baseline, due to demand driven by artificial intelligence (AI) and data centre fleets.
Similarly, Microsoft reported carbon emission increases amid rising data centre demand. The company’s Environmental Sustainability Report found that its total CO2 emissions rose by almost 30% since 2020, despite its direct emissions and energy use decreasing by over 6%.
As technology becomes increasingly integral to our lives, data centres are essential in supporting the digital infrastructure that powers our online presence. They offer data storage and management; reliable and continuous operations; scalability; security; support emerging technologies; offer global connectivity; and are cost-effective.
Despite advances being made in data centre performance, the IEA said that more needs to be done to address data centre energy efficiency, R&D and decarbonisation of electricity supply chains to curb energy demands and get on track with the Net Zero Emissions by 2050 (NZE) scenario1.
However, it’s a tall order, with more applications requiring more electricity than ever before. As data centres expand to serve the growing demand for cloud computing and AI, investors are having to look beyond the basic requirements of power, land water and fibre when evaluating the long-term viability of sites…
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