“Bloom’s superior energy technology capabilities are attractive to companies that need reliable power,” said Tim Schweikert, Senior Managing Director, International Business Development, 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.”
Reliable, high-quality power is critical to manufacturing operations particularly in the semiconductor and PCB operations because of the global demand for their products and the cost of electric power relative to their bottom line. Manufacturing facilities are also carbon-intensive. Taiwan has set ambitious decarbonisation goals for its industries. Bloom’s Energy Server, which can produce electricity from a variety of fuels without combustion, can play an important role in Taiwan’s decarbonisation.
Bloom’s energy platform can be configured to create a microgrid that can operate alongside an electricity grid, or independently of it. When powered by a fuel source with an underground pipeline system, such as natural gas, they are less susceptible to the impacts of extreme weather, enabling safe, continuous operation and avoiding the costly consequences of unplanned downtime. Bloom’s technology also enables customers to plan against price volatility by locking in a large portion of their electricity cost, with multiple financing options and flexible term lengths.
Bloom unveiled a multi-gigawatt manufacturing plant in Fremont, California, US, in July 2022 to meet growing demand for its technology. The US$200 million investment created a state-of-the-art, 164 000 ft2 facility followed the opening of a new research centre and a global hydrogen development facility in Fremont, bringing Bloom’s footprint there to more than 524 000 ft2. In addition to this, Bloom Energy added a high-volume commercial line for electrolysers at its Newark, Delaware facility, increasing the company’s electrolysers generating capacity to 2 GW. The award-winning technology is the most energy-efficient design to produce clean hydrogen to date.
