Horizon Hydrogen Power and ProtonH2 (H2-Genesis) are working together on hydrogen-based power systems aimed at AI data centers and other critical infrastructure, pairing modular fuel cell generation with an on-site hydrogen supply approach that reuses existing hydrocarbon assets.
Horizon’s Fuel Cell Power Generation Unit is designed for primary and backup data center power. The company says each system fits in a standard 40-foot container. Horizon also claims 100% greater power density than comparable PEM fuel cells, and 300% more power than most comparable solid oxide fuel cells. It also describes the unit as having zero airborne emissions and “ultra-low noise,” positioning it as an alternative to diesel generator sets for sites where noise and local air quality are constraints.
On the hydrogen supply side, ProtonH2 is contributing its proprietary ISHG (In-Situ Hydrogen Generation) process, which it describes as producing hydrogen from end-of-life hydrocarbon reservoirs while leveraging existing infrastructure. ProtonH2 says the approach avoids dependence on new exploration and on technologies dependent on critical minerals and catalysts. The companies are targeting dispatchable, on-demand power with water as the by-product from generation.
For data center engineers, the practical question is less “can fuel cells make electricity?” and more whether the hydrogen logistics and on-site storage, safety case, and permitting pathway can scale alongside megawatt-class deployments. ProtonH2 is explicitly betting that repurposed reservoirs and infrastructure can make hydrogen availability and cost less of a bottleneck than greenfield supply chains.
ProtonH2 claims hydrogen production costs below $1/kg, “low carbon intensity from feedstock through power generation,” accelerated permitting by using existing infrastructure, and scalable supply aligned with growing power demand.
Horizon points to a prior deployment: in 2024, it says it was selected to power what it describes as the first grid-independent hydrogen-powered AI data center running NVIDIA GPUs, using water by-product from the fuel cells for integrated cooling.
As part of the combined offering, the companies describe an integrated platform that includes ISHG hydrogen production and Horizon fuel cell power generation, including a “2.8 MW module,” along with modular deployment, built-in redundancy and resiliency, and the ability to interconnect after startup if needed. “The constraint on scaling hydrogen-powered infrastructure has always been hydrogen cost and availability,” said Paul Sandhu, CEO of ProtonH2.
Source: protonh2
