Petra Power sells fuel cells for data centers

As AI consumes an increasing amount of energy, the search is on for efficient, cost-effective power sources. Petra Power is one of the companies leading that effort, selling solid oxide fuel cells — ceramic devices that convert fuel such as natural gas into electric power without burning it. Petra was founded in 2017.

Petra markets the devices as a more efficient and environmentally friendly way to operate data centers and large vehicles. Founder Aaron Goodman told TechCrunch the product has significantly lower fuel costs and emissions than traditional power sources, and a much smaller physical footprint, since the cells are more compact and lightweight.

Goodman described conventional power generation as a wasteful, multi-step process: combustion creates explosions, the explosions create heat, the heat creates motion, and the motion eventually powers an electromotive force that generates electricity — with energy lost at every step. Fuel cells skip most of that chain. “What fuel cells do is they take the electrons directly off of the fuel, so they strip the fuel of its electrons, which creates electricity,” he explained. “It’s one step, no loss, and subsequently, in theory, at least, they’re much, much more efficient.”

Petra’s customer base is still emerging, Goodman said. The company is targeting two types of customers: data centers and the Defense Department. Goodman doesn’t want to reveal specific agreements yet, but said Petra is currently working with neoclouds and other infrastructure providers a few steps below the hyperscaler tier. The target for first deployment with these customers is 2028, with full-scale production hopefully set for 2029.

Hyperscalers are an ideal customer for Petra, Goodman said, and the company talks with them often, though nothing firm is in place yet. He noted hyperscalers are the largest consumers of power and the customers where Petra could make the biggest impact.

The other target customer, the government, is also still taking shape. Petra’s fuel cells are meant to provide auxiliary power for land vehicles — electricity for onboard equipment when the main engine is off — but the product has not yet deployed on a live vehicle, Goodman clarified; it remains in the testing phase while the government decides whether to move forward.

Petra is a small team of about 15 people, though it is growing, Goodman said. The company has so far received nearly $9 million in contracts from the Defense Department, and hopes to scale that work significantly in the coming years.

Why it matters

If Petra hits its 2028 deployment target, it would give data-center operators and defense programs a lower-emissions alternative to combustion-based backup power just as AI’s electricity demand keeps climbing — though with some 15-person team and no firm hyperscaler deals yet, that timeline still rests on execution.