En ole aiemmin juurikaan laittanut arvoa datacenttereiden bisnekselle, koska se on tuntunut liian kaukaiselle toiminnalle noin niin kuin ajallisesti. Projekteja on Plugi tehnyt useamman toimijan kanssa menneinä vuosina ja Andy on aiemmin vihjannut, että ensimmäiset pienmimuotoiset asennukset tehdään vuoden 2025 lopussa. Tämä alkaa vähän tuntumaan ajankohtaisemmalta, joten päätin linkittää tämän tänne:
https://x.com/Stock_Pursuit/status/1988295690972451172?s=19
Plug Power $PLUG works with data center developer ECL according to industry reports and ECL has already brought an all-hydrogen powered data center into full production with the ECL-MV1.
It’s the world’s first off-grid, hydrogen-powered modular data center that operates 24/7 with zero emissions, minimal noise, and a negative water footprint.
It offers a 10x increase in energy efficiency with a power usage effectiveness of 1.05 and a 7x improvement in data density per rack, which is ideal for AI high-density demands.
That early one is expandable in 1 MW increments and supports high-density deployments up to 75 kW per rack which is a ton of power availability and above industry standards. ECL says it can deliver new facilities in under 12 months, rather than the usual two to three year traditional data center builds.
There must be a non-disclosure agreement with ECL and Plug. There are no official releases from either company I could find on the relationship but the industry websites mention the two.
Plug Power’s CEO has been mentioning the hyperscalers data center tests for over a year.
“So, when you look at the three major data center operators, Plug is engaged and planning some initial deployment and tests with all,” Plug’s CEO Andrew Marsh said on a conference call in early 2024.
Plug Power has been doing tests with all three major hyperscalers(industry sites speculate Google Amazon, Microsoft) for a long time for auxiliary and backup power.
Hydrogen power is planned to be scaled to 1-2GW data centers at the Houston ECL TerraSite. It was scheduled for 50MW by this summer. The higher GW’s are a four year timeline.
It will probably take that long to move to zero-carbon green hydrogen using electrolyzers that convert water into hydrogen and oxygen the CEO said.
This ECL Houston TerraSite-TX1 which I highly assume is using atleast some Plug hydrogen fuel cells because of the source mentioned relationship and Plug’s product expertise. Industry sources say ECL used Plug fuel cells for their MV-1 data center. This TerraSite is planned for 1GW and can expand to 2GW! It’s a great case for more hydrogen powered data centers as this is still very early stuff.
I found multiple sources including Berkshire Hathaway’s BusinessWire that confirm the end size of the TerraSite data center with a cost of $8 bil. There are partners investing. It was already scheduled for 50MW in the summer.
ECL has signed Lambda as the AI cloud provider. That’s enough proof of concept to me the hydrogen power can scale. It appears to be enough for the hyperscalers too according to the Plug CEO too. ECL also uses Tesla batteries.
The Plug Power big data center deals timing prediction was spot on. Late 2025. They just announced a major data center deal this week. This has been orchestrated and there is the possibility all three hyperscalers follow through it appears which looks pretty big.
According to the AFCOM’s State of the Data Center 2024 survey, only 16% of respondents believe hydrogen-powered data centers are gaining traction while 59% believe solar power is gaining traction and 28% believe wind power is gaining traction.
So, this is also a contrarian trade where the upside for these hydrogen power companies is looking high as the data center industry has already been catching on.
All the alternative power, fuel cell and $PLUG bears and shorts have been looking in the rear-view mirror. Power is a critical need right now and for the future. There are no rear-view mirrors with the overwhelming consensus on projected surging demand for power.
Here is some more from the ECL CEO.
ECL CEO Bachar said his company plans to take advantage of solar power to overcome limitations in data center siting imposed by the limits of the hydrogen transportation infrastructure.
In an arrangement he calls “behind the meter, over the fence” an ECL hydrogen-powered data center would be located next to a large photovoltaic plant, which in many cases are overproducing at certain times of day and are in curtailment or selling at low rates.
“We are planning to put data centers next to those sites and connect a direct feed from the fields, solar or wind,” he said. “So, we come to those sites and say, okay we’ll put the data center right next to you and we’ll take all the power that you can give us behind the meter. Don’t even touch the grid. We don’t care about the grid.
PLUG has around a 30% short interest. It sort of reminds me of EOSE EOS Energy Enterprises with the sentiment dynamic. There was a clear path being built to grow but EOSE was highly shorted. EOSE actually seemed to have way, way more bulls early on from my anecdotal experience on this app. So, that speaks even more for the warped bear view on hydrogen fuel cell stocks adding to the contrarian setup.
-BusinessWire Sep 25, 2024 ECL Announces World’s First 1 Gigawatt Off-Grid, Hydrogen-Powered AI Factory Data Center
Full Disclosure: I am long PLUG stock and call options and FCEL stock and calls and Bloom Energy BE
Liittyy vahvasti tähän teknologiaan:
Energy Vault, PG&E Announce Successful Calistoga Resiliency Center Energy Vault, PG&E Announce Successful Calistoga Resiliency Center
Energy Vault on nyt toiminnassa ja kykyjä on. Polttokennot toimitti Plug Power:
Plug Power Inc. | Energy Vault selects Plug Power to Supply 8 MW of Hydrogen Fuel Cells as part of hybrid microgrid back-up system for PG&E and the city of Calistoga https://share.google/Ej7jT7NPuB8qroOZt
Ei liity suoranaisesti Plugiin, mutta tässä hyvä esimerkki kuinka tuollainen saarreke toimii optimiolosuhteissa erinomaisesti. Tässä vain loppukäyttäjä ovat autot.
A small town in Washington state makes its own hydrogen fuel for only $4 per kg - Driving Hydrogen A small town in Washington state makes its own hydrogen fuel for only $4 per kg - Driving Hydrogen
Plugin vetypäivät 18.11 on seuraamisen arvoinen. Datacenttereiden osalta varmaan ensi vuonna kuullaan enempi, että millaista markkinaa sieltä on mahdollisesti tulossa lähivuosina. Palikat alkaa olla kohdillaan.