Bloom Energy Introduces ‘AlwaysON’ Microgrid Solution to Provide Power Resiliency During Grid Outages

Simplified Microgrid Solution and Short-Term Financing Options Put Clean, Reliable, Always-On, On-Site Power Within Reach for More Customers

SAN JOSE, Calif.: Bloom Energy, the market leader in microgrids, today announced a new AlwaysON Microgrid solution with attractive financing which is designed to make it easier and convenient for companies to protect themselves from extended grid power outages and escalating grid electricity rates.

Hundreds of thousands of electric utility customers have been left without power for days at a time this summer as heat waves, storms and wildfire risks have led to extended power outages in California, New York and elsewhere on the Atlantic coast. At the same time, 79 U.S. utilities filed requests to increase electricity rates during 2018, the largest number since 1983.1

The new AlwaysON microgrid solution is designed to provide customers with a path to energy resiliency in the face of future outages at a predictable cost. Bloom Energy is a leading provider of microgrid solutions with more than 85 microgrids already deployed. Collectively, those microgrids helped customers withstand more than 550 grid outages during 2018.

A microgrid provides electric power and can operate independently of the main electrical grid indefinitely. Microgrids are an emerging category of technology, which have been cumbersome and complex to design and implement. To reduce that complexity, Bloom Energy is now offering a simplified microgrid solution, comprised of a Bloom Energy Server with fully integrated energy storage and the microgrid components needed to power critical facility loads in the event of a grid power outage.

The solution utilizes natural gas or directed biogas supplied through the highly reliable, existing underground pipeline system, making it dramatically less susceptible to the impacts of extreme weather.

“As the number, severity and duration of climate-related power outages escalates, customers must act to protect their businesses,” said KR Sridhar, founder, chairman and CEO of Bloom Energy. “The Bloom Energy Server can uniquely help them reduce greenhouse gases and secure cost-effective, long-term resilient power in one unified platform.”

Bloom Energy Servers generate electricity from natural gas, biogas or hydrogen without combustion through an electrochemical reaction. When operating on natural gas they generate up to 50 percent fewer CO2 emissions than grid power, and produce virtually no particulates and smog-forming emissions. With these sustainability attributes, customers no longer have to choose between sustainability and resiliency. Both can be optimized with the Bloom Energy microgrid solution.

Bloom Energy has taken a further step to make microgrids more accessible to customers. Contracts for non-utility power typically have long commitments of 15 years or more. It can be challenging for customers to switch to alternative forms of power if they are uncertain whether they will still occupy the same property in years to come or their business planning does not stretch that long. Now, Bloom Energy is offering energy-as-a-service solutions with terms as short as five years, with no money down, substantially reducing customer commitments.

The Bloom Energy AlwaysON microgrid solution is being introduced as the U.S. continues to see an escalation of power outages caused by extreme weather events.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (US EIA) reported that a July heat wave drove the highest electricity demand in nearly two years from the Midwest to the Atlantic coast. Tens of thousands of electricity utility customers lost power for extended periods as a result.2

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Climate Prediction Center announced on August 8 that it expects an “above average” 2019 hurricane season with 10 to 17 named storms, five to nine hurricanes and two to four major hurricanes expected this season. During the 2018 season, hurricanes Michael and Florence left more than three million customers without power for up to five days.3

Meanwhile, in California, utilities have notified customers they may be without power for up to 10 days this summer as a result of efforts to mitigate the risk of wildfires during periods of high wind.4

1 US EIA: https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=40133
2 US EIA: https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=40253
3 NOAA: https://www.noaa.gov/media-release/noaa-increases-chance-for-above-normal-hurricane-season
4 Public Safety Power Shutoff: https://prepareforpowerdown.com/

About Bloom Energy

Bloom Energy’s mission is to make clean, reliable, and affordable energy for everyone in the world. The company’s product, the Bloom Energy Server, delivers highly reliable and resilient, ‘Always-On’ electric power that is clean and sustainable. Bloom’s customers include twenty-five of the Fortune 100 companies and leaders in cloud services and data centers, healthcare, retail, financial services, utilities and many other industries. For more information, visit www.bloomenergy.com