$5 Billion Power Play: Brookfield Fuels AI Boom with Bloom Energy Surge

Bloom Energy BE just caught a major tailwind. Brookfield Asset Management BAM announced plans to invest up to $5 billion in Bloom's solid-oxide fuel cell technology to power the next wave of AI-driven data centers. The move marks Brookfield's first bet under its dedicated AI Infrastructure strategya signal that the real race isn't just in chips, but in the clean energy needed to feed them. Shares of Bloom Energy surged 24.5% to a record $108.17 in morning trading after the announcement, reflecting rising investor conviction that the AI power boom could reshape global energy demand.

Evercore ISI analysts noted that Bloom's fuel-cell systems offer reliable, scalable, and clean on-site power, a critical edge as data-center operators grapple with grid congestion and slow permitting cycles. They suggested that hybrid energy setupscombining renewables, fuel cells, and traditional generationcould become increasingly important as AI facilities demand nonstop uptime. Bloom has already rolled out its technology with major partners including American Electric Power, Equinix, and Oracle. The companies are now working together on the design and rollout of what they call AI factories worldwide, with a European site expected to be revealed before the end of the year.

For Brookfield, this investment expands an already aggressive push into the heart of the AI infrastructure build-out. Earlier this year, the firm announced plans to invest up to 95 billion Swedish crowns ($9.98 billion) in a large-scale AI data-center complex in Sweden and committed 20 billion euros to AI projects in France. Fuel-cell powerproducing electricity through chemical reactions rather than combustioncould be one of the key technologies enabling this growth. Depending on the fuel source, byproducts can include only water and heat, offering a cleaner, more efficient pathway to power the energy-hungry backbone of the AI economy.