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Doosan Fuel Cell is making its first foray into the U.S. power market by supplying fuel cell systems for AI data centers to HyAxiom, a U.S. subsidiary of Doosan Corporation. The deal came about as HyAxiom won an order to supply fuel cell systems for data centers in the U.S. The opportunity gave both companies an important step to establish a foothold in the rapidly growing North American power market.

Doosan Fuel Cell said in a regulatory filing on September 2 that it had signed a contract to supply HyAxiom with Phosphoric Acid Fuel Cell (PAFC) worth approximately KRW 501.4 billion. PAFC systems will be supplied in phases to HyAxiom from the second half of this year through the first half of 2028. HyAxiom will provide the systems to AI data centers across the U.S.

HyAxiom is responsible for R&D, sales, engineering, project execution, commissioning and long-term service agreement (LTSA) across North America and Europe. Doosan Fuel Cell has a track record of installing more than 800MW, with its Iksan plant serving as a global manufacturing hub for fuel cell systems. The company delivers its products to customers in Korea and overseas, including HyAxiom, and handles sales and LTSA across Asia, including Korea.

The deal comes against the backdrop of severe power bottlenecks in the U.S. As the growth in AI data center power demand outpaces the expansion of power plants and grid infrastructure, securing power quickly has become a key competitive factor. While expanding the power grid can take years, data centers can typically be built in around 18 months. To bridge this gap, global big tech giants are increasingly turning to “On-site power”*, installing their own generation facilities near data centers. Fuel cells are emerging as one of the most promising alternatives.
*On-Site Power is electricity directly installed and generated at the location where it is consumed rather than drawn entirely from the grid, increasing energy efficiency and reliability.

Doosan Fuel Cell’s export is also significant in that it demonstrates the company’s ability to meet the stringent performance requirements of North American data center market. With high power generation efficiency and reliable 24/7 operation, Doosan’s fuel cells deliver power reliability, ease of maintenance and load following that data centers demand.

Thanks to the close cooperation between Doosan Fuel Cell and HyAxiom, the systems can be installed at U.S. customer sites within about a year of signing the contract, allowing power to be supplied in time to meet the data center construction timeline. Its modular design also enables the system to scale up incrementally as power demand grows.

In addition, the heat generated by fuel cells can be harnessed for data center cooling in combination with absorption chillers and heat pumps when required by customers. As cooling represents a significant portion of data center power consumption, the integrated solution that delivers both power and cooling is a key advantage of the PAFC. Furthermore, once green hydrogen infrastructure becomes more widely available, the system can be converted to a hydrogen-fueled model with minimal modifications, contributing to carbon neutrality goals.

Doosan Fuel Cell’s competitive edge has been built on the government’s policies to promote the hydrogen economy and close collaboration across Korea’s industrial ecosystem. The Hydrogen Economy Promotion and Hydrogen Safety Management Act, enacted in 2020 as the world’s first hydrogen-specific law, and the Clean Hydrogen Portfolio Standard (CHPS), opened in 2023 following a 2022 legal amendment that provided the necessary legal framework, helped lay the foundation for the growth of Korea’s fuel cell industry. Doosan Fuel Cell also worked closely with domestic partners to advance its technology and strengthen the competitiveness of its supply chain. The company has proactively secured annual production capacity of around 275MW and is considering further scale-up to prepare for growing demand in the future.

A Doosan Fuel Cell official said, “This contract demonstrates our competitiveness in the U.S., a key market, with our Behind The Meter (BTM) Solution as a way to address power bottlenecks at data centers in the AI era. Building on this momentum, we will pursue additional orders in North America by leveraging our ability to deliver quickly and our scalability.”