By Nate Wolf
Artificial-intelligence cloud provider Nebius Group is turning to fuel-cell maker Bloom Energy as tech companies look for alternatives to local electrical grids to help power their data centers.
Bloom Energy's fuel-cell systems, which generate electricity without combustion, will provide electricity for Nebius, with 328 megawatts of installed capacity expected to be operational this year. Nebius will pay up to $2.6 billion over the term of the agreement, which is expected to come on in three phases, each with a supply term of 10 years.
Shares of Nebius jumped 7.8% in premarket trading, having surged 407% over the last 12 months. Bloom Energy stock, which is up more than 1,400% in the last year, rose 1.6%. Bloom Energy jumped 8% on Wednesday, when the $2.6 billion figure first was released.
Electricity remains one of the most sought-after resources in AI, particularly for so-called neoclouds like Nebius. The neocloud model depends on building out and powering data centers as quickly as possible for customers in need of compute capacity.
Bloom Energy's on-site systems will be "behind-the-meter," meaning they aren't dependent on power from the larger electrical grid. This setup reduces Nebius' dependence on building new grid transmissions and shortens the timeline to power its facilities, the company said.
"Power remains a key constraint for AI infrastructure build-outs, " said Andrey Korolenko, chief product and infrastructure officer at Nebius. Bloom Energy's fuel cells, he added, offer clean power "on the timelines our customers need, with the availability AI workloads require."
Bloom Energy stock has surged on this kind of AI demand. Since 2024, the company has notched new or expanded deals with neocloud competitor CoreWeave, cloud giant Oracle, and electricity generator American Electric Power.
After multiple years of losses, Bloom Energy is on track to earn net income of $475 million in 2026, analysts forecast. Wall Street expects that figure to rise to over $1.2 billion in 2027 and $2.1 billion in 2028.
Write to Nate Wolf at nate.wolf@barrons.com
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 21, 2026 08:43 ET (12:43 GMT)
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