Through this partnership, both Bloom Energy and Chart Industries are aiming to be able to offer a solution to customers, such as date centres and manufacturers. The predominant focus for these customers, will be the ones who are currently seeking power solutions, which have the ability to be deployed rapidly and without compromising reliability or emission goals.

In order to complete these aims, the partnership will utilise natural gas, as well as fuel cells, to create near zero-carbon, always-on power, which can be used for industrial customers.

It is well-known within the industry that efficient carbon capture does depend on the purity of the CO2 within the exhaust stream and this often varies a lot between a range of power generation technologies. Technologies which are known as ‘conventional’ and which are used to generate electricity from natural gas through combustion, produce exhaust streams and these normally contain approximately 5% CO2. It is most common that these kinds of technologies are gas turbines and reciprocating engines. The issues with these systems, is that the emissions they produce are so low in concentration that they are difficult to capture and the process of capturing these concentrations often becomes technically complex and costly. However, in contrast to this, Bloom’s proprietary high-temperature fuel cells technology has the ability to convert natural gas without the need for combustion. This means that it is possible for this technology to yield a CO2-rich stream which contains a fifteen times lower mass flow, as well as ten times the CO2 concentration. This means that not only is this carbon capture system less costly, but it is also much more efficient.

Within the agreement created by the partnership, Chart has planned to use its carbon capture knowledge, in order to process Bloom’s high-purity CO2 exhaust stream into outputs which are ready for both utilisation and sequestration.

Founder, Chairman, and CEO at Bloom Energy,  KR Sridhar, commented, “Our partnership with Chart aims to demonstrate that cost-effective, onsite baseload power from natural gas with carbon capture is feasible at scale. Bloom fuel cells generate electricity without combustion, producing a concentrated CO2 stream that lowers extraction costs, making carbon capture more affordable and efficient. For energy-intensive industries like data centers and large manufacturers, this will provide a path to reliable, scalable power while significantly reducing carbon emissions. I am excited about the opportunities this partnership can unlock and the positive impact for our planet.”

Morgan Stanley stated that, ‘more than 500 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) of carbon storage capacity is expected to come online within the next five years. As sequestration capabilities grow in the U.S. and globally, CO2 utilization provides an immediate pathway to repurpose captured carbon while supporting long-term decarbonisation efforts.’

Chart Industries CEO, Jill Evanko, mentioned, “Chart is a global leader in carbon capture. We are excited to bring this expertise to Bloom and their unique platform which is capable of not just producing reliable power but also a concentrated CO2 stream. Working with a market leader in solid oxide fuel cells, we see exciting opportunities for our partnership in both sequestration and utilization markets. We are already working on projects where the captured CO2 will be utilized in the food and beverage industry.”