A fuel cell maker’s guide to leaving the grid

Sponsored content from Bloom Energy argues manufacturers should build onsite power — and concludes that fuel cells win.

Manufacturing Dive published sponsored content from Bloom Energy on 3 August 2026 making the case for onsite generation — "bring your own power" — as manufacturers find it harder to procure grid electricity for new factories and plant expansions.

The piece states that US electricity supply will fall short of anticipated peak demand within two years, and that by 2030 demand could surpass supply by 175 GW. It puts the cost of five hours of annual outage, which it gives as the US average, at $4.4 million for a 25 MW facility, and names Quanta Computer, Walmart and Ferrari as adopters of the approach. It then compares onsite options and concludes that fuel cells consistently come out on top.

Bloom Energy sells fuel cells. The grid-constraint problem it describes is real and documented well elsewhere, but the demand-gap figures here are unattributed and the recommended answer is the sponsor's own product. Logged as vendor material at the lowest weight.

Source: Manufacturing Dive