PowerCell wins hydrogen power order for AI data centre

Author: Joe Peck

PowerCell, a Swedish developer and manufacturer of hydrogen fuel cells for stationary power and transport applications, has secured an order worth approximately SEK 30 million (£2.3 million) to supply hydrogen fuel cell systems for ECL’s CSC-1 AI data centre campus in Santa Clara, California, USA.

The contract covers the supply of PowerCell PS190 fuel cell systems, together with licences for the company’s Distributed Master Controller (DMC), for integration into ECL’s FlexGrid microgrid architecture.

The installation represents approximately 5MW of power generation capacity, with deliveries scheduled for completion by the end of 2026.

The order follows the deployment of the same technology at ECL’s MV-1 AI data centre in Mountain View, California, and forms part of an ongoing collaboration between ECL, PowerCell, and Bosch.

Richard Berkling, CEO of PowerCell Group, says, “This order demonstrates how hydrogen fuel cells are becoming part of critical energy infrastructure. As demand for computing capacity accelerates, access to reliable power has become one of the industry’s biggest constraints.

“ECL deserves significant credit for having continuously operated liquid, hydrogen-powered AI infrastructure over the past two years. Technology matures through operation and that experience has created a depth of application knowledge that few organisations have.”

Project targets resilient AI infrastructure

The CSC-1 campus is designed to provide 35MW of AI computing capacity using a combination of grid power, battery storage, natural gas, and hydrogen fuel cells. PowerCell’s DMC will coordinate these energy sources through ECL’s energy management platform.

According to PowerCell, the project marks a commercial deployment of its strategy to combine hydrogen fuel cell technology with energy management software for primary power applications rather than standby generation.

Alongside the order, PowerCell and ECL have also signed a separate non-binding memorandum of understanding covering a potential further 300MW of hydrogen power capacity.