NTT Data Signs 900MW Bloom Energy Fuel Cell Deal for Data Centers

NTT Data has signed a 900MW deployment agreement with fuel cell maker Bloom Energy, the largest deal Bloom has struck with a single data center developer and a measure of how far operators will now go to secure power ahead of the grid.

Bloom will supply its solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) systems, deployed on-site to power NTT Data's facilities across multiple data center projects worldwide. Initial shipments of the fuel cell generators are expected to start in 2027.

The customer base behind the deal is substantial. NTT Data Group operates more than 150 data centers in more than 20 countries and regions, including Tokyo (TKY11) and Osaka (OSK11 and OSK12) in Japan. In October, reports emerged that the company was in talks to develop a $6.3 billion data center in Western Japan for AI firm Anthropic.

What does the deal change for NTT Data?

It decouples, at least partly, the pace of data center expansion from the pace of grid connection. Doug Adams, CEO of NTT Global Data Centers, framed the problem directly: "Our clients are building AI capabilities at a pace the grid alone cannot always match, and speed to power has become one of the defining factors in delivering capacity when and where it's needed."

Adams said Bloom's on-site generation "gives us a reliable, scalable way to bring capacity online alongside construction," and pointed to non-power considerations: the fuel cells protect local air quality, use minimal water and run quietly. "This agreement gives us a foundation to power our clients' growth across our global portfolio," he said.

The technology carries a caveat worth stating plainly. Bloom's SOFC generators, known commercially as the Bloom Box, are stationary units that convert fuel into electricity through an electrochemical process without combustion. They can run on hydrogen. At present, the vast majority run on natural gas, which keeps the fuel supply question — pipelines included — firmly attached to any deployment.

Bloom's wider data center order book

The NTT agreement extends a run of Bloom deals across the data center sector:

• Oracle: an expanded agreement earlier this year for up to 2.8GW of capacity, on top of an initial 1.2GW deal signed last year. Deployments at Oracle's Jupiter data center in Doña Ana County, New Mexico, have hit roadblocks over opposition to a gas pipeline extension expected to feed the facility's fuel cells.
• Equinix: deployments across 19 data centers exceeding 100MW in total capacity.
• American Electric Power: an agreement for up to 1GW of SOFCs to power AI data centers off-grid. In October, AEP signed a 20-year power purchase agreement with Google, committing Google to offtake 702MW from a fuel cell generation project near Cheyenne, Wyoming, that uses Bloom's fuel cells.

Bloom's commercial leadership tied the deal to the AI buildout. "Companies that can secure power quickly will have a differentiated advantage and accelerated path to revenue," said Aman Joshi, EVP and chief commercial officer at Bloom Energy. He argued that as AI compute moves "from AI factories to deployment at scale for edge and inference use cases," Bloom can meet customers' time-to-power needs with highly reliable, cleaner power suited to AI workload requirements.

Marketing language aside, the commercial fact stands: a 900MW on-site generation order from one of the world's larger colocation portfolios signals that power availability, not land or capital, now sets the expansion rate for data center operators. The New Mexico pipeline dispute shows the model remains exposed to local permitting and gas infrastructure fights.

First deliveries under the NTT agreement are scheduled for 2027, giving Bloom a multi-year backlog and NTT Data a power foundation to match its reported AI-driven pipeline, including the proposed $6.3 billion Anthropic facility in Western Japan.