SOFC Bridge Power for Data Centers Explained: A 72 MW Site With Only 1.8 MW of Grid

 

Bottom line: The binding constraint on AI data centers is increasingly the interconnection

queue, not the silicon. A redevelopment plan for the Thames Valley Park campus in Reading,

UK targets 72 MW of IT load with only 1.8 MW of grid supply secured, so phase one would run

on solid-oxide fuel cells (SOFC) until about 2037. Here is what the numbers say about the

architecture.

What happened

Per Computer Weekly (Oct 6), applicant FH Trustees filed an outline application with

Wokingham Borough Council in late September to replace the campus with a ~37,000 m²

data center. Note: Microsoft is the current tenant and plans to leave when its lease

ends in December 2027; it is not the operator of the proposed facility.

Grid supply on site: 1.8 MW. Projected peak draw: about 110 MW (72 MW IT plus cooling

and electrical plant).

Proposed bridge: SOFCs with 42.5 MW effective capacity serving a ~32 MW first phase

from 2028 to 2037, until 33 kV and 132 kV connections land and a ~40 MW second phase

follows.

Same week, different continent: T5 Data Centers filed in Chantilly, Virginia for 48 MW of

natural-gas fuel cells as base load with up to 27 MW from the grid, and SK Eternix in

Korea signed an MOU for an off-grid fuel-cell AI campus.

Back-of-envelope: 1.8 MW ÷ 110 MW ≈ 1.6% grid coverage. 110 MW ÷ 72 MW ≈ 1.53,

meaning roughly 0.5 MW of cooling and distribution overhead per MW of compute at peak.42.5 MW ÷ 32 MW ≈ 1.33, about one-third headroom on the fuel-cell fleet.

1. Why a third of headroom?

An SOFC plant is many stack modules in parallel. When one module is pulled for service or

replacement, the others must cover the gap, and stack output also drifts down over operating

hours. A 42.5-on-32 ratio reads like module-level N+X redundancy plus a degradation

allowance. That is a different reliability problem from diesel standby: here the fuel cells are the

24/7 prime source, not the backup.

2. SOFCs don't like fast load swings

SOFCs operate at high temperature, and thermal stress limits how quickly they can ramp. AI

training loads can swing hard on millisecond-to-second timescales. In practice that means

pairing the fuel cells with UPS or battery storage to absorb transients while the stacks run at a

steady setpoint, which is why fuel cells, storage and DC distribution tend to show up in the same

design conversation.

3. No NOx is not the same as low carbon

Because SOFCs convert fuel electrochemically rather than by combustion, the application says

they produce essentially no NOx or particulates. But natural gas still means CO₂. The

consultant's own energy strategy concedes the setup "locks in a high, non-improving emissions

profile," and the environmental assessment flags significant greenhouse-gas effects.

Biomethane or hydrogen are named as future fuels, but only as options.

4. Waste heat and native DC are the upside

High-grade exhaust heat could feed a district heat network; the application names a hospital,

the University of Reading, schools and the town center as potential users. Less discussed: fuel

cells produce DC natively. Paired with 800 VDC distribution or a solid-state transformer (SST),

that can remove conversion stages. In T5's Virginia filing, the fuel cells are the reason no on-site

substation is needed.

Open questions

The filing doesn't name the fuel-cell vendor or disclose a cost per MWh.

How firm is the gas supply? A decade as prime power demands very high fuel availability.

If the 2037 grid date slips, who pays for additional stack replacements?A planning decision isn't expected until March 2027; the scheme could still be refused or

reshaped.

Related videos (The Engineering Core)

AI's Power Crisis: SOFC vs SMR Nuclear — The Ultimate Energy Showdown

Ditching the Grid! Delta's SOFC Secret & SST for Perfect AI Microgrids

Your call: with grid queues stretching a decade, is fuel-cell bridge power a sensible stopgap for

AI campuses, or should operators wait for SMRs? Tell me your reasoning in the comments.

Sources: Computer Weekly (Oct 6, 2026), FFXnow: T5 Chantilly fuel-cell data center (Oct 9, 2026), The Elec:

SK Eternix fuel-cell data center MOU (Oct 9, 2026).

Published on The Automation Core | Video: The Engineering Core YouTube channe