Overview
- The companies disclosed the phased, decade‑long agreement on Thursday under which Nebius will pay Bloom up to $2.6 billion in service fees to install, operate, and maintain solid oxide fuel cells.
- The contract calls for about 250 megawatts of guaranteed capacity and 328 megawatts of installed capacity in the initial project, which Nebius expects to have operational this year.
- Nebius will record the arrangement as an operating expense while Bloom retains ownership of the systems and books recurring monthly service revenue rather than one‑time equipment sales.
- The deal addresses a growing power bottleneck for AI data centers because Bloom’s fuel cells can run on natural gas, biogas, or hydrogen and be deployed faster than new grid connections or lengthy permitting.
- Markets moved on the news with Nebius shares jumping sharply and Bloom shares rising modestly, but analysts warn the outcome depends on on‑time installations, factory scale‑up, capital needs, and regulatory approvals.