Can hydrogen fuel cells power Microsoft data centers?

Image: Microsoft / John Brecher

A new milestone has been reached in Microsoft's effort to eliminate diesel from its data centers. A hydrogen fuel cell system was successfully tested to replace a diesel powered backup generator at a large data center.

Microsoft wants to stop using diesel in its backup power systems by the year 2030. Every data center has batteries that will kick in if the power goes out.

Diesel generators release pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions. Hydrogen fuel cells combine hydrogen and oxygen to create electricity and release heat and water. Big batteries can run on clean energy, but they don't have the capacity to power a data center for a long time.

Microsoft is excited about hydrogen as a fuel and the milestone it just reached: designing and testing a three-megawatt hydrogen fuel cell system that can power around 10,000 computer server at a data center.

Sean James, Microsoft director of data center research, said in a post today that they just witnessed a moon landing.

There is still a long way to go before Microsoft data centers can be pollution-free. Fuel cell technology was tinkered with by Microsoft. Natural gas was still used in the fuel cells at the time.

Image: Microsoft / John Brecher

The company focused on PEM fuel cell technology that could run on hydrogen. Microsoft couldn't find suppliers that made large PEM fuel cell systems. Plug Power was asked by Microsoft to create a custom one. In June, Microsoft and Plug tested the system together. Plug is working on a streamlined version of the prototype. Microsoft says it will install the system at a research data center next, but no target date has been set for introducing the technology at a live data center.

There is a lot of hype surrounding hydrogen as an alternative to fossil fuels. In the US, the Biden administration has an $8 billion plan to build hydrogen production "Hubs".

The hype is being criticized. The process of making hydrogen fuel itself can get dirty, even though hydrogen fuel cells only produce heat and water. Most of it is made using fossil fuels. Microsoft tested its prototype using natural gas and carbon capture technology that is supposed to draw down most of the carbon dioxide emissions that come from using fossil fuels.

Microsoft wants to use hydrogen made with renewable energy in the future. If the Biden administration and other governments prioritize clean energy, it can bring a lot more renewable energy online, build out the infrastructure to produce and transport green hydrogen, and make green hydrogen cost-competitive with dirtier fuels.