As AI gobbles up an ever larger amount of energy, the hunt is on for efficient and cost-effective power sources. One of the companies leading the charge is Petra Power. Petra, which was founded in 2017, sells solid oxide fuel cells — ceramic devices that convert fuel, like natural gas, into electric power without burning it.
The company markets them as a more efficient and environmentally friendly way to operate data centers and large vehicles. Petra’s founder, Aaron Goodman, told TechCrunch that his company’s product has significantly lower fuel costs and emissions than traditional power sources, and that they have much less of a physical footprint, too, because they’re more compact and lightweight. The efficiency, and the cost savings that come with it, is what makes the fuel cells attractive.
That heat creates motion. The motion powers an electromotive force, which eventually creates electricity. It’s a lot of steps, and they all have so much loss in them that you end up with a really inefficient system.” Petra’s fuel cells skip most of these steps.
Although it may offer an innovative product, the customer base is still emerging for Petra. Goodman said that his company is targeting two different types of customers: data centers and the Defense Department. Goodman doesn’t want to reveal specific agreements just yet, but said Petra is currently working with neoclouds and other infrastructure providers that were a few steps down from the hyperscaler crowd.
The target for first deployment with these customers is 2028, with full-scale production for the company hopefully set for 2029, Goodman said. Obviously, they’re the largest consumers of power. They’re the ones that we can make the biggest impact with, so that’s where we’d like to go.” The other customer — the government — is also still taking shape.
The idea is that Petra’s fuel cells will be able to provide auxiliary power for land vehicles, meaning electricity for onboard equipment when the main engine is off. But Petra’s product has not actually deployed on a live vehicle yet, Goodman clarified. Instead, the fuel cells are in the testing phase, during which the government is deciding whether to move forward, he said.
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