Bloom Energy forays into green hydrogen market

California-based Bloom Energy Corp (NYSE:BE) has stepped in the commercial green hydrogen market by starting to offer hydrogen-powered fuel cells and electrolyzers.

The fuel cell maker said on Wednesday that the new products will be initially introduced in South Korea next year where Bloom Energy is partnering with SK Engineering and Construction (SK E&C), an affiliate of SK Group.

By the end of this year, the fuel cell maker will ship a 100-kW pilot unit, the so-called hydrogen Server, that will be installed at its Korean partner’s site in early 2021. After this initial phase is completed, Bloom Energy will deploy a 1-MW hydrogen installation that will be deployed in 2022.

Bloom’s solid oxide fuel cell power generators, called Bloom Energy Servers, are the company’s flagship product. They can use natural gas or biogas as fuel to produce power without combustion. Last summer, the US firm announced that the Energy Servers could be upgraded to run on hydrogen or a combination of hydrogen and natural gas.

Bloom Energy’s three-year collaboration with SK E&C has already enabled the US firm to sell 120 MW of fuel cells in South Korea, securing over USD 1 billion (EUR 876.7m) in equipment and future services revenue. The two firms anticipate selling 400 MW of fuel cells per year, taking advantage of the South Korean government’s goal to deploy 15 GW of fuel cells by 2040.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.877)

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