Bloom Energy entered into an agreement with Unimicron, a chip substrate and printed circuit board maker, to deploy up to 10 megawatts of fuel cells at Unimicron plants in Taiwan.
Final assembly of fuel cells takes place at the company’s 700-employee Newark site.
The installations will begin in 2023 and completed by 2026. Beginning in 2023, Bloom Energy will have placed its solid-oxide fuel cells in four Asian countries.
“Bloom’s superior energy technology capabilities are attractive to companies that need reliable power,” said Tim Schweikert, Senior managing director, International Business Development at Bloom Energy. “That is particularly true of semiconductor fabs, which must meet a global demand for their products that shows no signs of abating. Bloom’s fuel-flexible platform can fill Unimicron’s needs today, with fuels that are available now, and they can transition to renewable fuels and hydrogen as those sources become more widely available.”
Taiwan has set ambitious decarbonization goals for its industries. Bloom’s Energy Server, which can produce electricity from a variety of fuels without combustion and can play a role in Taiwan’s decarbonization, a release stated.
Bloom’s energy platform can be configured to create a microgrid that can operate alongside an electricity grid, or off-grid. The fuel cells are typically powered by natural gas, but can be converted to landfill gas or hydrogen.
The fuel cells operate continuously, unlike most backup power systems.
Bloom opened a larger manufacturing plant in Fremont, CA in July 2022. The $200 million 164,000 square foot facility followed the opening of a new research center and a global hydrogen development facility in Fremont.
In addition, Bloom added a high-volume commercial line for electrolyzers at its Newark facility, increasing the company’s hydrogen electrolyzer generating capacity.
