Nebius Partners with Bloom Energy to Deploy Up to 328MW of Fuel Cells for US AI Data Centers
May 21, 2026
Nebius Partners with Bloom Energy to Deploy Up to 328MW of Fuel Cells for US AI Data Centers
Nebius, a neocloud provider specializing in AI infrastructure, has signed a deal with U.S. fuel cell manufacturer Bloom Energy to deploy Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) technology at its data centers. The partnership is part of Nebius’ broader effort to secure reliable, behind-the-meter electricity for its full-stack AI cloud platform in the United States, where power availability has become a critical bottleneck for large-scale AI deployments.
Under the agreement, the first project will see Bloom deploy up to 328 megawatts of SOFC capacity at an undisclosed site, with operations expected to begin later this year. The fuel cells will generate electricity onsite through an electrochemical reaction rather than combustion, resulting in higher efficiency and significantly lower emissions. Bloom’s platform is fuel-agnostic and can run on natural gas, biogas, or hydrogen, offering flexibility as energy sources evolve.
“Power remains a key constraint for AI infrastructure build-outs,” said Andrey Korolenko, chief product and infrastructure officer at Nebius. “We chose Bloom because their fuel cells solve that directly: Clean power with virtually no pollutants is deployed onsite, on the timelines our customers need, with the availability AI workloads require. We expect to put this technology to work alongside our infrastructure as we continue to scale our capacity.”
Aman Joshi, chief commercial officer at Bloom, added that the partnership brings together Bloom’s clean fuel cell technology with AI-native infrastructure. “AI workloads demand power infrastructure that matches the performance of the cloud platforms they run on,” he said. “Our partnership with AI cloud leader Nebius helps deliver a community-friendly, high-performance solution at scale.”
The deal marks Bloom’s latest expansion in the data center sector. Last month, the company expanded its agreement with Oracle to supply up to 2.8 GW of fuel cell capacity, building on an initial 1.2 GW deal signed last year. Bloom has also deployed over 100 MW across 19 data centers for Equinix, and signed an agreement with U.S. utility American Electric Power for up to 1 GW of SOFCs to power AI data centers off-grid. In 2025, Bloom secured a $5 billion AI infrastructure partnership with global investment firm Brookfield, which is investing in the company to support technology development and deployment.
For Nebius, which operates data centers in the U.S., Europe, and the Middle East, the fuel cell deployment is part of a rapid expansion strategy. The company owns a facility in Mäntsälä, Finland, and is leasing or planning capacity in London, Paris, Israel, Iceland, and U.S. sites in New Jersey and Missouri. Just last week, Nebius announced plans for a second gigawatt-scale data center campus in the U.S., highlighting the growing demand for power-ready AI infrastructure.
Source: datacenterdynamics
