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Bloom Energy just laid out a blueprint for rewiring how AI data centers get their electricity. The company’s new report, “The New Rules of AI Power,” details an 800V DC-native power architecture that uses solid oxide fuel cells to generate power on-site, skipping the traditional AC grid infrastructure that most facilities still rely on.
For a projected 1 GW AI data center, Bloom estimates the approach could shave $3.6 billion off non-compute capital expenditures, a 27% reduction. Over five years, total cost of ownership savings could hit $5.5 billion, or about 9% compared to conventional AC-based systems.
Why DC matters more than you think
The fuel cells themselves are solid oxide units. They can run on natural gas, biogas, or hydrogen, which gives operators flexibility on fuel sourcing depending on local availability and sustainability goals. The continuous DC output matches what modern AI accelerators actually consume, eliminating the electrical middlemen.
NVIDIA is planning to adopt 800V DC standards for its next-generation rack designs, specifically the Rubin Ultra and Kyber architectures, starting in 2027.
The partnership picture
Bloom has been quietly stacking deals with major data center operators. Nebius has contracted the company for an initial project involving 328 MW of power supply. Oracle and Equinix, two of the largest names in the data center business, are also among Bloom’s existing partners. Brookfield has provided financial backing as well.
Industry projections reinforce the trend. Surveys indicate that DC-based architectures could account for 58% of all new data center deployments by 2030.
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