Bloom Energy and electronics manufacturer Quanta Technologies have expanded on their agreement to power the latter’s hardware manufacturing facility in California with a fully islandable fuel cell microgrid.

Quanta creates technology for the artificial intelligence (AI) sector, which is growing exponentially and driving an expansion in data center capacity over the coming decade. Bloom Energy is deploying its solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) solution to power the microgrid.

The new agreement, building on an original announcement last April, will pave the way for Bloom expanding its existing SOFC installation by 150% and will avoid a costly utility interconnection delay to help Quanta keep up with rising orders in AI-related equipment.

Fuel cells convert a fuel into electricity via an electrochemical process. The fuel cell itself does not emit greenhouse gases.

The fuel cell microgrid is designed to help power Quanta’s manufacturing expansion in Fremont, California. The company’s growth plans were impeded by interconnection delays in increasing grid power by local utilities, so Quanta selected Bloom Energy for an on-site power solution.

“Leaders in the AI industry like Quanta simply do not enjoy the luxury of being able to wait for traditional grid infrastructure, because the marketplace won’t wait for them,” said Aman Joshi, Bloom Energy’s global Chief Commercial Officer, in a statement. “Bloom’s SOFC microgrids provide AI customers with a flexible, pay-as-you-grow solution that is ready to scale and avoids additional transmission or distribution upgrades. This effectively shortens interconnection permitting associated with traditional infrastructures.”

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