AEP's $4 Billion Wyoming Fuel Cell Plant to Supply Google Data Center
American Electric Power announced a $4 billion, 702-megawatt Bloom Energy fuel cell plant in Wyoming to supply Google under a 20-year power purchase agreement, while separately securing 190 MW of Mainspring linear generators.
American Electric Power will supply power from a new 702-megawatt fuel cell plant in Wyoming to Google under a 20-year power purchase agreement. The $4 billion project, controlled by AEP through Cheyenne Fuel Cell LLC, is scheduled to begin construction in 2026 and reach full operation by the end of 2028.
AEP owns and controls approximately 92% of the project company, Cheyenne Fuel Cell LLC, with funds advised by Basalt Infrastructure Partners holding the minority interest. Bloom Energy will supply the solid oxide fuel cell technology, which generates electricity through an electrochemical process without burning natural gas. The plan calls for integrating carbon capture technology with the stated objective of providing reliable, near-zero-emissions electricity.
Project scales as part of broader AEP clean generation strategy
The Wyoming plant is about seven times larger than AEP’s previous fuel cell deployments. Combined with a separate deal for Mainspring linear generators, the announcements represent 892 megawatts of planned generation and purchased equipment. That equals less than 3% of the roughly 33,000 megawatts of owned and contracted generating capacity that AEP reports.
The potential scale is larger. AEP purchased 190 megawatts of Mainspring Energy linear generators under an agreement for up to 1.6 gigawatts through 2034. If AEP buys the full amount available, the combined initiatives could reach approximately 2.3 gigawatts. This follows a January 2026 disclosure of an agreement worth about $2.65 billion to purchase a substantial portion of its option for additional Bloom Energy fuel cells and a November 2024 announcement to secure up to 1 gigawatt of Bloom cells for data centers.
Mainspring linear generator deal expands AEP’s distributed resource options
AEP’s agreement includes an initial 190-megawatt tranche of Mainspring linear generators for delivery beginning in 2027. Mainspring called the deal the largest procurement of linear generators to date, extending the company into the investor-owned electric utility sector at gigawatt scale. The technology compresses air and fuel until a uniform, non-combustion reaction occurs, pushing oscillators through copper coils to generate electricity.
The fuel-flexible units run on any blend of biogas, natural gas, hydrogen, and propane. According to a recent datasheet, the 2.5-megawatt packages achieve 46% electrical efficiency on a lower heating value basis, with a heat rate of 8,233 Btu/kWh on a higher heating value basis. Nitrogen oxide emissions are listed below 1.5 parts per million.
| Specification | Detail |
|---|---|
| Package Rating | 2.5 MW (ten 0.25-MW units) |
| Fuel Flexibility | Biogas, natural gas, hydrogen, propane blend |
| Electrical Efficiency (LHV) | 46% |
| Heat Rate (HHV) | 8,233 Btu/kWh |
| NOx Emissions | < 1.5 ppm |
Broader ecosystem supports Google's Wyoming data center campus
The Wyoming fuel cell project follows separate agreements, effective September 30, under which Black Hills Corporation will serve Google’s planned Cheyenne data center through 2048. Black Hills expects to serve the development through a 2.7-gigawatt resource portfolio. This includes up to 590 megawatts of grid-connected service and approximately 2.1 gigawatts of third-party contracted resources managed through a private microgrid.
Black Hills plans to invest $1.8 billion between 2027 and 2029 to add 564 megawatts of natural gas generation at its existing Cheyenne Prairie Generating Station. Service is scheduled to begin in late 2027 and ramp to peak demand in 2030. The agreements support Google’s proposed $17 billion Project Tembo data center campus, a revised development comprising four buildings totaling about 3.08 million square feet. Neither AEP nor Black Hills has confirmed whether the 702-megawatt Bloom project is part of Black Hills’ 2.1-gigawatt third-party portfolio.
AEP Chairman, President and CEO Bill Fehrman linked the moves to rising power demand. "As power demand continues to grow, AEP is bringing together new technologies and strong partnerships to deliver reliable, innovative energy solutions quickly and at scale," Fehrman said. The company's second-quarter filing notes the Wyoming project arrangement remains subject to specified conditions, with a deadline extended in June by mutual agreement.
In Ohio, AEP’s utility signed contracts in 2025 for about 98 megawatts of fuel cell service to supply two data centers operated by Amazon Web Services and Cologix. Construction of the Wyoming fuel cell facility is planned to start in 2026, with full operation expected by the end of 2028.
