At a glance
- Financial terms were not disclosed.
- The plan covers front-of-the-meter and behind-the-meter projects in Central and Northern California.
- Project returns depend on carbon storage more than on the fuel cells alone, and the partners said up to three million metric tons of CO2 a year could potentially be captured and stored.
California Resources Corporation (CRC) and Bloom Energy signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding to evaluate 1 GW or more of fuel cell generation in California, with data centers among targeted offtakers, Data Center Dynamics reported. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The plan covers front-of-the-meter and behind-the-meter projects in Central and Northern California. Front-of-the-meter projects would connect to utility offtake; behind-the-meter projects, across CRC's Central Valley footprint, would serve industrial users seeking on-site power. Bloom would supply the solid oxide fuel cells and third-party carbon capture technology, while Carbon TerraVault, CRC's carbon management business, would handle CO2 transport and storage.
Project returns depend on carbon storage more than on the fuel cells alone, and the partners said up to three million metric tons of CO2 a year could potentially be captured and stored. Bloom's solid oxide fuel cells produce a high-concentration CO2 exhaust stream, which the companies say makes capture more efficient. The economics are therefore tied to Carbon TerraVault's storage capacity.
Bloom has signed deals across the data center spectrum; the companies are also targeting utilities, community choice aggregators, municipalities and other industrial users as customers.
The companies said they intend to complete interconnection and permitting work needed to bring projects online.
Reported by the Energy Transition desk from Data Center Dynamics. Published . Corrections