Bloom Energy linked to $2.6 billion Nebius deal

Bloom Energy shares rose in premarket trading on Thursday after CNBC reported the fuel-cell company had signed a partnership with European AI cloud provider Nebius tied to an agreement worth up to $2.6 billion. Nebius said it would deploy Bloom’s fuel-cell technology at its European data centers to secure power more quickly as AI infrastructure demand rises. Bloom was up about 1.6% before the bell, while Nebius shares gained more than 7%, CNBC reported. The $2.6 billion figure refers to service fees Nebius could pay Bloom over the life of the agreement, subject to conditions disclosed in a securities filing, CNBC reported. Under the arrangement, Nebius plans to buy electricity generated by Bloom’s systems, while Bloom will install and manage the equipment. (cnbc.com) ### What exactly did Bloom and Nebius agree to? Nebius said Bloom’s systems will be used to generate on-site electricity for its data centers in Europe, a structure aimed at easing power bottlenecks that have slowed AI build-outs. CNBC reported the project is expected to roll out in three phases over 10-year terms. Those phases would provide about 250 megawatts of guaranteed power capacity and 328 megawatts of installed capacity, according to the filing cited by CNBC. (cnbc.com) Andrey Korolenko, Nebius’s chief product and infrastructure officer, said in a company statement that “power remains a key constraint for AI infrastructure build-outs.” He said Nebius chose Bloom because its fuel cells can provide on-site power on the timelines customers need. ### Why is Nebius looking for this kind of power now? (cnbc.com) Nebius has been expanding rapidly in Europe and the United States as it builds AI computing capacity. On March 31, the company said it would construct a 310-megawatt AI factory in Lappeenranta, Finland, with first customer capacity expected in 2027. Nebius said that project would contribute to its target of securing more than 3 gigawatts of contracted power by the end of 2026. (cnbc.com) CNBC reported that Nebius has also announced other major infrastructure and financing deals this year, including a $27 billion infrastructure agreement with Meta in March and a $2 billion investment from Nvidia. The company’s newsroom lists a May 20 press release titled “Nebius and Bloom Energy partner to power AI infrastructure build-out.” (nebius.com) ### How does this fit Bloom Energy’s recent AI push? Bloom Energy has been pitching its solid oxide fuel-cell systems as a way for data-center operators to add power without waiting for grid connections. Bloom’s investor site says its platform is used for distributed generation of electricity and hydrogen. On April 13, Bloom announced an expanded partnership with Oracle to deploy up to 2.8 gigawatts to support AI infrastructure build-out. (cnbc.com) Bloom’s stock had already been on a sharp run before Thursday. CNBC’s quote page showed Bloom closed at $282.31 on May 20, up 8.02% that day, and was trading at $286.19 in after-hours data cited Thursday morning. ### Was hydrogen part of the announced deal? The CNBC report available Thursday described the arrangement as a fuel-cell power and services agreement for European data centers. (investor.bloomenergy.com) The report cited on-site electricity generation, service fees, capacity figures and rollout terms, but it did not mention hydrogen integration as a stated element of the agreement. (cnbc.com) Nebius’s next dated milestones already on the record include its 2026 target of securing more than 3 gigawatts of contracted power and the planned 2027 start of customer supply from its Lappeenranta, Finland facility. Bloom’s next scheduled earnings date on CNBC’s market page was listed as July 29, 2026. (nebius.com) (cnbc.com)