Nebius Secures $2.6 Billion Bloom Energy Fuel Cell Deal as AI Cloud Revenue Surges 684%

Nebius signs a 10-year, $2.6B agreement with Bloom Energy to deploy solid oxide fuel cells at data centers, bypassing grid constraints to accelerate AI infrastructure expansion.

The scramble for power to feed artificial intelligence infrastructure has driven Nebius to strike a long-term energy partnership worth as much as $2.6 billion. The cloud provider has inked a 10-year service agreement with Bloom Energy, which will deploy solid oxide fuel cells at Nebius data centers, sidestepping the grid constraints that have delayed rival projects.

Under the deal, Bloom Energy will install its modular, non-combustion fuel cells directly at Nebius server farms. The initial deployment will deliver around 250 megawatts of guaranteed capacity at a site in Independence, Missouri, where construction is slated to begin in 2026. Nebius originally planned to use conventional gas turbines at that location but switched to fuel cells to cut emissions and accelerate the build-out of AI clusters. The company has stated that a total of 328 megawatts of fuel cell capacity will come online at the site, replacing traditional engines entirely.

The agreement comes as Nebius rides an explosive growth wave driven by its AI cloud business. In the first quarter, revenue soared 684% to $399 million, while annualized recurring revenue from the core cloud segment reached $1.9 billion. To sustain that momentum, management has raised its capital expenditure budget for the current fiscal year by $4.5 billion, funneling the additional spending into capacity needed to service contracts with Nvidia, Microsoft and Meta.

Fuel cells offer a critical advantage in an industry where power bottlenecks have become the primary obstacle to data center expansion. Grid interconnection queues can stretch for years, derailing timelines for hyperscale projects. By generating electricity on-site without burning fuel, Bloom’s technology requires minimal water and sidesteps the lengthy permitting process for new transmission lines. Nebius is betting that this decentralized energy model will allow it to bring server farms online far faster than competitors.

Analysts have largely applauded the move, viewing secured power as a strategic differentiator that strengthens Nebius’s ability to win future contracts. The consensus rating on the stock is a buy, with a mean price target of $221.71. The company is simultaneously ramping up capacity in both the U.S. and Europe, and the Bloom partnership underpins its long-term goal of reaching 4 gigawatts of contracted power capacity.

The first 250-megawatt phase in Missouri will test whether the fuel cell concept can scale cost-effectively in a production environment. If successful, the partnership could be expanded, potentially redeploying the Bloom units across additional sites as Nebius chases a pipeline of active contracts that already includes some of the biggest names in technology.