ECL Taps PowerCell Hydrogen Fuel Cells for AI Data Centers, With a 300 MW+ Expansion MOU
- Microgrids News On-Site Generation & Microgrids
Marin Holt
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- 5 minutes read
- Expansion MOU (non-binding): ~300 MW hydrogen fuel-cell capacity
- Initial site: CSC-1 campus, Santa Clara, CA (35 MW)
- Fuel-cell system: PowerCell PS190
- Existing deployment: MV-1, Mountain View, CA (2+ years)
- Manufacturing partner: Bosch (PowerCell's largest shareholder)
ECL, a U.S. developer of AI-focused data centers, and Swedish fuel-cell maker PowerCell Group have signed a hydrogen-power partnership that starts with a firm order for PowerCell PS190 fuel-cell systems plus a non-binding agreement covering roughly 300 MW of additional capacity, the companies said July 14, 2026. The first systems go into ECL’s 35 MW CSC-1 campus in Santa Clara, California, feeding the site’s FlexGrid microgrid alongside grid power, natural gas and battery storage.
The deal has two parts: a firm purchase order for an undisclosed number of containerized PS190 units, and a separate memorandum of understanding, explicitly non-binding, for about 300 MW of further hydrogen fuel-cell capacity as ECL expands its FlexGrid footprint. No dollar value was disclosed. PowerCell’s Distributed Master Controller ties into ECL’s Lightning management system so the fuel cells can be dispatched with the campus’s other on-site power sources.
The Santa Clara rollout builds on an existing PowerCell installation at ECL’s MV-1 facility in nearby Mountain View, where hydrogen has served as the primary power source for more than two years. PowerCell, spun out of Volvo Group and based in Gothenburg, is backed by Bosch, its largest shareholder and manufacturing partner, which supplies the production capacity and North American service network. ECL says it is taking tenant inquiries for AI deployments in 2027 and 2028.
Why It Matters
Data-center developers are racing to secure on-site generation that sidesteps multi-year interconnection queues, and hydrogen fuel cells are emerging as a cleaner alternative to the natural-gas turbines many hyperscale campuses now install. By wiring PS190 stacks directly into a microgrid that already blends grid power, gas and batteries, ECL treats fuel cells as a dispatchable building block rather than a science project. The firm order is small and the 300 MW headline is only an MOU, so the near-term signal is a supply commitment and a template, not yet 300 MW of steel in the ground.
Critical Perspective
The headline 300 MW is a non-binding memorandum of understanding, and the only firm commitment is a purchase order for an undisclosed number of PowerCell PS190 units feeding a single 35 MW campus. Bloom Energy already sells solid-oxide fuel cells into data centers under binding contracts, which makes an MOU with no disclosed dollar value or unit count a softer signal than the 300 MW figure implies. Microsoft demonstrated a 3-megawatt hydrogen fuel-cell system for data-center backup in 2022 and has still not scaled it commercially, showing how far a working pilot can sit from fleet deployment. With hydrogen still costlier than the grid-and-gas power ECL already blends at CSC-1, what price does that 300 MW need to reach before the MOU converts into steel in the ground?
Sources
- ECL and PowerCell announce 300 MW+ hydrogen partnership (July 14, 2026)
- Renewable Energy Magazine: PowerCell and ECL hydrogen partnership
- Data Centre Magazine: How PowerCell’s fuel cells support ECL’s Santa Clara campus
