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From Mars to AI: Fuel Cells Power $28B Boom

Published by Todd Bush on October 16, 2025

What started as NASA technology for producing oxygen on Mars just became the answer to AI's biggest infrastructure challenge. Bloom Energy, founded by former aerospace engineer KR Sridhar in 2001, has seen its stock surge 1,000% in twelve months as data centers scramble for power that traditional grids can't deliver. The company's market cap rocketed from $2.5 billion to $28 billion, driven by massive partnerships with tech giants racing to fuel the AI revolution.

The timing reflects a perfect convergence of technology and necessity. Data centers powering artificial intelligence need electricity immediately, not in the years it takes to build nuclear plants or expand overloaded grids. Bloom's solid oxide fuel cells deliver clean, on-site power in months, completely bypassing grid connection queues that can stretch five to seven years.

What makes this transformation remarkable is how space exploration technology found its moment on Earth. The same electrochemical process Sridhar developed to sustain life on Mars now powers some of the world's most critical digital infrastructure, from Google campuses to AI training facilities.

KR Sridhar, Founder, Chairman and CEO, Bloom Energy

"AI infrastructure must be built like a factory, with purpose, speed, and scale. Unlike traditional factories, AI factories demand massive power, rapid deployment and real-time load responsiveness that legacy grids cannot support."

KR Sridhar, Founder, Chairman and CEO, Bloom Energy

The $5 Billion Brookfield Partnership

On October 13, 2025, Bloom Energy announced a deal that sent its stock soaring another 20%. Brookfield Asset Management committed up to $5 billion to deploy Bloom's fuel cell technology in AI data centers globally. This marks Brookfield's first major investment in its strategy to support AI infrastructure with integrated power and computing solutions.

Together, the companies plan to design and build "AI factories" around the world. The first European site will be unveiled before year-end, with additional locations already in development. This isn't just corporate partnership talk, it's validation that fuel cells can solve AI's fundamental power problem at scale.

Oracle, American Electric Power, Equinix, and other Fortune 100 companies have already signed deals representing billions in commitments. The technology once dismissed as too expensive for widespread adoption has become indispensable for companies that can't afford to wait years for electricity.

How the Technology Actually Works

Bloom's solid oxide fuel cells operate differently from traditional power generation. Instead of burning fuel in turbines, the cells use an electrochemical process to convert natural gas, biogas, or hydrogen directly into electricity. The process occurs at temperatures above 800°C using ceramic materials rather than expensive precious metals.

No combustion means significantly lower emissions compared to conventional natural gas plants. The fuel cells produce one-third less CO2 than standard generation. More importantly, the technology is fuel-flexible, capable of running on multiple energy sources as they become available.

This flexibility creates a bridge between today's infrastructure and tomorrow's zero-carbon future. Today the cells use natural gas. Tomorrow they can switch to green hydrogen or biogas without replacing the entire system, making them ready for hydrogen hub development.

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Bloom Energy Key Metrics

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Why AI's Power Crunch Changes Everything

Artificial intelligence doesn't just need more power than traditional computing, it needs vastly more power. By 2035, AI data centers in the U.S. alone could consume over 100 gigawatts, a staggering increase that existing grids simply cannot support. Wind and solar face intermittency challenges even with batteries, nuclear takes a decade to build, and natural gas plants require years for permitting and construction.

Fuel cells solve these problems simultaneously. They provide baseload power without grid connections, deploy in months instead of years, and scale modularly as needed. Most critically for urban deployments, they generate power on-site exactly where data centers need it, eliminating transmission losses and infrastructure constraints.

Sridhar predicted this moment back in 2001 when he first pitched the company. But massive growth didn't materialize until ChatGPT launched and AI demand exploded. "That's when we said, 'Everything that we've been telling the world is going to happen is now going to accelerate,'" Sridhar told Fortune. "It's a 24-year journey for an overnight success."

data center fuel cell power generation facility exterior daylight

Three Reasons Traditional Power Can't Keep Pace

1. Grid Interconnection Backlogs: Connecting new power sources to the grid involves multi-year queues. Data centers can't wait three to five years for electricity. Fuel cells bypass this entirely by generating power on-site, eliminating interconnection delays and transmission infrastructure requirements.

2. Speed of Deployment: Nuclear plants take 10+ years from planning to operation. Wind and solar farms require years for permitting, construction, and grid integration. Bloom's modular fuel cells can be installed and operational in months, matching the rapid timelines AI companies demand.

3. Reliability Requirements: AI training runs can't afford power disruptions. Grid outages from weather events, equipment failures, or demand spikes cause massive financial losses. On-site generation with fuel cells eliminates grid dependency, providing the 24/7 reliability AI operations require.

The Hydrogen Connection

Here's where the story gets even more compelling for the decarbonization sector. Bloom's fuel cells are hydrogen-ready today. As hydrogen hubs scale up production and distribution infrastructure, these same fuel cells can transition from natural gas to green hydrogen without replacement. The installed base becomes the foundation for a future zero-carbon power network.

This matters because hydrogen infrastructure development has struggled with the classic chicken-and-egg problem. Nobody wants to build hydrogen production without guaranteed customers. Nobody wants to buy hydrogen equipment without reliable supply. Bloom's fuel cells solve this by creating immediate demand using natural gas today while providing a guaranteed market for hydrogen tomorrow.

The company has already deployed over 400 megawatts to data centers worldwide. That's 400 megawatts of infrastructure that can eventually run on green hydrogen once supply chains mature. Multiply this by Bloom's 10 gigawatt annual production target, and you're looking at massive future hydrogen demand from a single customer segment.

Bloom fuel cells outpace traditional and renewable energy sources in deployment speed and hydrogen readiness.

Bloom fuel cells outpace traditional and renewable energy sources in deployment speed and hydrogen readiness.

Manufacturing Scale-Up Creates Jobs

Bloom operates manufacturing facilities in Fremont, California, and Newark, Delaware. The company intentionally built these plants as exact copies, allowing rapid scaling to match demand. Current production has reached 1.5 gigawatts total, with ambitious plans to hit 10 gigawatts per year.

That's enough to power 8 million homes annually, a staggering increase that will require significant workforce expansion and supply chain development. The manufacturing ramp-up creates thousands of high-skill jobs in ceramics engineering, electrochemistry, systems integration, and field installation.

Unlike overseas solar panel production, Bloom maintains domestic manufacturing, keeping jobs and intellectual property in the United States. Competitors like FuelCell Energy, HyAxiom, and Plug Power all offer variations on fuel cell technology, but none have scaled to Bloom's level yet.

Marina Domingues, Head of U.S. New Energies Research, Rystad Energy

"The technology works more affordably now since fuel cell microgrids qualify for tax credits from President Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill. They are comparable to the price of power from combined-cycle gas turbines, but fuel cells can come online more quickly and produce power more cleanly."

Marina Domingues, Head of U.S. New Energies Research, Rystad Energy

From Early Adopters to Mass Market

Bloom's path to profitability took longer than expected. The company spent seven years developing commercial cells, then another decade reducing costs and improving efficiency. During that time, Bloom relied on Fortune 100 "early adopter" customers willing to pay premium prices for cleaner power.

Walmart, eBay, and FedEx provided crucial revenue while the technology matured. The company went public in 2018 at a $1.6 billion valuation after navigating early controversies. In 2012, the SEC charged an investment bank working with Bloom of using inflated numbers to mislead investors, though Bloom itself wasn't accused of wrongdoing.

Financial performance is improving rapidly. Bloom posted a $29 million net loss in 2024, a dramatic improvement from roughly $300 million in losses during 2023. The first half of 2025 saw a $66 million loss, but Sridhar insists profitability is imminent. "We are not one of these companies that has to invest, invest, invest," he said. "We've already done that part the last 20 years."

Integration with Carbon Capture

An unexpected synergy emerges when looking at carbon management. Bloom's technology can integrate with carbon capture systems to create nearly carbon-neutral power generation. FuelCell Energy, one of Bloom's competitors, has already pioneered carbonate fuel cell technology that captures CO2 while generating electricity simultaneously.

As data centers explore carbon capture to offset their environmental impact, fuel cells that can both generate power and capture emissions become increasingly attractive. The integration of these technologies could accelerate adoption of both fuel cells and carbon management systems.

Some data center developers are already exploring this path. Prometheus Hyperscale announced plans for a Wyoming facility that pairs natural gas generation with carbon capture to achieve carbon-negative operations. Similar approaches using fuel cells could proliferate as companies seek to meet net-zero commitments while maintaining reliable power.

What This Means for the Hydrogen Economy

  • Immediate Demand Signal: Gigawatts of hydrogen-ready infrastructure being installed now
  • Bridge Technology: Natural gas today funds development of hydrogen infrastructure tomorrow
  • Distributed Production: On-site power generation favors local hydrogen production
  • Fuel Flexibility: Ability to blend or switch fuels as hydrogen becomes available
  • Manufacturing Scale: Mass production of fuel cells reduces costs for all applications

Urban Deployment Advantage

Most AI coverage focuses on massive hyperscaler campuses in rural areas. But Sridhar argues that fuel cells will become even more critical as smaller data centers proliferate in urban areas closer to consumer demand. Cities can't accommodate the transmission infrastructure needed for large centralized power plants, making on-site generation the only viable option.

This distributed approach mirrors broader trends in energy systems. Instead of massive centralized generation with long-distance transmission, the future looks increasingly local. Fuel cells, solar panels, battery storage, and eventually hydrogen production create neighborhood-scale energy networks.

The urban deployment advantage extends beyond data centers. Hospitals, manufacturing facilities, university campuses, and commercial complexes all need reliable power without grid dependency. Bloom has already proven the technology in these applications. The AI boom simply accelerated adoption and provided the scale needed to drive costs down for everyone.

Looking Ahead: Industry Growth

Bloom's 1,000% stock surge reflects fundamental shifts in how we generate and consume power. AI's explosive growth created urgent demand that traditional infrastructure can't meet. Fuel cells provide the solution, bridging today's natural gas networks with tomorrow's hydrogen economy.

For the broader decarbonization industry, Bloom's success validates several critical concepts. Bridge technologies that use existing infrastructure while enabling future clean energy work. Distributed generation beats centralized power in many applications. Hydrogen-ready equipment creates guaranteed future demand that justifies production infrastructure investments.

The fuel cell market is projected to grow from $5.66 billion in 2025 to $18.16 billion by 2030, a compound annual growth rate of 26.3%. Much of that growth will come from data center deployments, but applications span transportation, industrial power, and residential energy. As costs continue falling and hydrogen infrastructure develops, fuel cells could become as ubiquitous as solar panels.

Sridhar's Mars dreams led him here, to a moment where his technology solves Earth's most pressing infrastructure challenge. "Living off the land is what an explorer does," he said. On Earth, the mission is simpler but equally ambitious: clean energy that's reliable and accessible everywhere. With AI driving demand and hydrogen on the horizon, fuel cells might finally deliver on that promise.

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