China International Capital Co said Bloom Energy and Nebius agreed in May 2026
to deploy 328 MW of SOFC capacity, with maximum service fees over the
cooperation period of $2.6 bln. Bloom Energy’s annual capacity reached 1 GW by
end-2025 and the company plans to expand to 2 GW by end-2026 to match AI
data-center demand. CICC flagged SOFC systems as a potential new supply option
for data centers and highlighted supply-chain implications: suppliers already
integrated with Bloom Energy and other leading OEMs (diaphragms, magnetic
components, cell-connection assemblies, temperature sensors) are candidates for
upside; high-tech, low-localization BOP segments remain potential bottlenecks —
in a 250 kW SOFC BOP example, heat-recovery system cost share rises from 17% to
23% as annual output scales from 100 to 10,000 units, with heat exchangers
(requiring gas tightness and thermal-cycle durability) as core components.
High-power burners and high-end air blowers (eg, magnetic-levitation) remain
largely imported and require domestic technological breakthroughs.
