PowerCell Group (publ) and ECL have entered into a partnership to supply hydrogen fuel cell power for the latter’s AI data centre platform.
The plan includes a firm purchase order for PowerCell PS190 fuel cell systems and a separate non-binding memorandum of understanding (MoU) outlining a potential 300MW increase in hydrogen power capacity as ECL expands its FlexGrid data centre sites.
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Bosch, PowerCell’s key industrial partner and largest shareholder, is providing manufacturing expertise and operational support in North America for these hydrogen systems.
ECL will first use the fuel cell systems at its 35MW CSC-1 campus in Santa Clara, California. These systems will be part of the company’s FlexGrid microgrid infrastructure, working alongside grid power, natural gas, and battery storage.
The deployment follows an existing hydrogen fuel cell installation at ECL’s MV-1 facility, also in California, where hydrogen has powered operations for more than two years.
The MoU between ECL and PowerCell is non-binding and does not commit either party to deliver or purchase the 300MW of additional capacity.
Any future deployment will require separate agreements. PowerCell has disclosed its firm order in a separate regulatory announcement.
PowerCell Group CEO Richard Berkling said: “ECL is among the very few operators who not only run hydrogen in production but understand how to orchestrate it intelligently alongside storage and other energy sources as one integrated system.
“Our firm order for PowerCell PS190 systems, alongside our broader non-binding MoU, sends a clear signal that hydrogen-powered AI data centres are moving from first-of-kind toward industrial scale.”
ECL founder and CEO Yuval Bachar said: “This is not a pilot or a proof of concept — we are deploying these PS190 units with the operational data to back it up, and we are signing an MoU for an additional 300MW because the demand from AI operators for power in constrained markets far exceeds what any single grid connection can deliver.”
Bosch is supporting the partnership by providing manufacturing capacity and local integration services for the North American data centre market.
