Emissions

Baker Hughes, Bloom Energy align on low-carbon generation, hydrogen initiatives
Baker Hughes, Bloom Energy align on low-carbon generation, hydrogen initiatives

A longtime oilfield services giant and fuel-cell technology developer are uniting for a future drive toward low-carbon power generation and hydrogen energy business.

Baker Hughes and Bloom Energy have formed an alliance to collaborate on the potential commercialization and deployment of integrated low-carbon and H2 solutions. They will begin collaborating on potential customer engagements, launch pilot projects over the next 2-3 years and then fully commercialize and scale applications, products and solutions.

Three focus areas Baker Hughes and Bloom Energy will focus on include:

Integrated power solutions: Bloom Energy will provide its solid oxide fuel cell technology and Baker Hughes its light-weight gas turbine technology to come up with an efficient, resilient, and cost-effective solution for cleaner energy generation, waste heat recovery, and grid independent power for customers. The two energy companies will focus on creating resilient microgrids ideal for large-scale applications.

Integrated hydrogen solutions:  Baker Hughes and Bloom Energy will explore opportunities to pair Bloom Energy’s solid oxide electrolyzer cells (SOEC) that can produce 100% clean hydrogen with Baker Hughes’ compression technology for efficient production, compression, transport, and delivery of hydrogen. Waste heat utilization for steam generation will also be assessed to further increase the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of hydrogen production. The companies will target applications such as blending hydrogen into natural gas pipelines, as well as on-site hydrogen production for industrial use.

Mutual technical collaborations: The companies will assess opportunities to leverage Baker Hughes’ broad technology portfolio and Bloom Energy’s SOFC and SOEC solutions. In addition to hydrogen and clean power, areas of collaboration may include carbon capture and emissions monitoring technologies, digital solutions, and additive manufacturing capabilities.

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Uwem Ukpong, executive vice president of regions, alliances, and enterprise sales at Baker Hughes, said: “The path to net-zero carbon emissions must include partnerships and collaboration.”

Azeez Mohammed, executive vice president of international business for Bloom Energy, adds: “We believe that in combining our industry-leading technologies and expertise to provide differentiated and customized integrated solutions to customers, we can accelerate the adoption of clean energy technologies.

“This collaboration will serve as a model of how we need to look for innovative ways in which we can work together and integrate technologies and capabilities to achieve our common goals for global decarbonization and resiliency.”

Houston-based Baker Hughes, formerly the Hughes Tool Co. co-founded by the father of Howard Hughes, services the oilfield industry through drilling, fluids, chemicals, pumping and other segments. Boom Energy provides fuel-cell and microgrid technology solutions.

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The future of hydrogen is a key part of the content planned for POWERGEN International, happening Jan. 26-28 in Dallas, Texas. The POWERGEN Call for Speakers is now open and seeking content for tracks such as Decarbonization, Digitalization, Energy Storage Breakthroughs, the Future of Electricity, Hydrogen: What’s New and What’s Next?, Optimizing Plant Performance, the New Energy Mix (on-site power) and Trends in Conventional Power. Click here to see more and submit a session idea.