Manufacturing Energy Solutions for Reliable Power

For the key priorities of manufacturing energy, Bloom Energy offers unmatched solutions. As a trusted partner for manufacturing businesses, Bloom’s on-site energy platform provides reliable energy to control costs, enhance energy resilience, and mitigate operational risks across industrial manufacturing.

Manufacturing Industry
at a Glance

Manufacturing energy consumption is critical to maintaining smooth operations, and the risks from power loss are high. Critical systems and equipment depend on reliable power to avoid costly disruptions. For high-volume manufacturers, even brief power outages can ripple through the supply chain, significantly impacting output.

As a resilient, always-on energy platform, the Bloom Energy Server® is designed to meet the critical business requirements of manufacturing, offering a clear path to energy independence while addressing the larger challenge of industry decarbonization.

Quick Facts About
the Manufacturing Industry

The manufacturing and production sector accounts for one-fifth of global carbon emissions and 54% of the world’s energy usage.¹
Fortune Global 500 manufacturing firms are estimated to lose a cumulative 3.3 million hours of labor a year to unplanned downtime.²

In the manufacturing industry, the cost of downtime is approximately $260,000 per hour.³
Manufacturers experience approximately 800 hours of downtime every year due to maintenance, tool breaks, adjustments, etc. Because so much of the business relies on technology running smoothly, the repercussions can be costly when you’re unable to catch it ahead of time.⁴

Overcoming Energy
Challenges

Maximizing Uptime

Operational risks from manufacturing energy outages are extremely high – outage events can devastate production processes, often leading to long and expensive delays in production that threaten a manufacturer’s bottom line. Using advanced microgrid solutions allow manufacturers to ensure reliable energy and keep critical systems online without interruption.

Resilient Solution

Bloom Energy Servers can operate independently of the grid. Because they receive fuel through the underground pipeline system, they are less susceptible to the impacts of extreme weather, enabling safe, continuous operation and avoiding costly consequences of unplanned downtime.

Lowering Emissions

With its relatively large global carbon footprint, manufacturers face pressure to transition towards more sustainable business practices and are increasingly looking at ways they can produce their products more efficiently and in an environmentally-conscious way. Bloom’s energy technology helps reduce emissions by producing clean power through an electrochemical process. This approach eliminates harmful pollutants and supports manufacturing energy use goals of reducing carbon footprints.

Sustainable Solution

Fuel cells generate electricity through an electrochemical process rather than combustion. This avoids emitting harmful criteria air pollutants that cause severe respiratory diseases and poor air quality worldwide. Fuel cells reduce carbon emissions compared to the grid and combustion-based technologies, and are also fuel flexible with the ability to run on biogas or hydrogen for carbon neutral emissions options.

Controlling Costs

Manufacturing plants are highly resource-intensive structures that are costly to build, operate, and maintain. Controlling manufacturing energy consumption is critical. Minimizing downtime in manufacturing is just as pivotal as maximizing efficiency and output to maintain production margins.

Predictable Solution

In addition to avoiding outage-related costs that can reach into the millions of dollars, Bloom enables manufacturers to hedge against volatility and price escalation by fixing a large portion of their electricity cost, providing multiple financing options and flexible term lengths.

Manufacturing Energy FAQs

How is energy used in manufacturing?

In manufacturing, energy is mainly used for powering industrial machinery, heating, and cooling systems. Equipment such as furnaces and critical systems that manage environmental controls demand continuous and reliable power to ensure smooth operations. Maintaining clean power—free from voltage spikes—is essential for ensuring precision and preventing downtime in sensitive operations.

To avoid grid-related disruptions, manufacturers use advanced microgrid solutions and resilient energy solutions. On-site technologies, like fuel cells and UPS (Uninterruptible Power Systems), provide stable energy and reduce reliance on fluctuating grid prices.

For more information, contact Bloom’s manufacturing energy experts today.

What manufacturing uses the most energy?

Energy-intensive sectors like chemicals, metals, paper, and refining are among the largest consumers of manufacturing energy. These industries rely on high-temperature processes, such as smelting and chemical reactions, which require significant industrial power. Chemical plants, for example, operate continuously and consume vast amounts of energy to maintain production

By adopting energy technology like microgrids, these industries can minimize costs, improve manufacturing energy use, and reduce their carbon footprintby enhancing energy efficiency.

How to improve power reliability in manufacturing?

Implement Advanced Microgrid Solutions: Microgrids offer localized power generation that operates independently of the main grid, enhancing energy resilience. This setup reduces the risk of outages from external grid failures and integrates renewable energy sources, providing stable and reliable power for continuous production.

Install Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS): A UPS ensures continuous power for critical systems, protecting equipment from voltage drops, spikes, or temporary outages. This is crucial for precision manufacturing, where even brief power disruptions can cause significant operational and financial damage.

Use Power Monitoring and Redundant Systems: Monitoring solutions provide real-time insights into power quality and system health, allowing manufacturers to identify and address issues before they cause downtime. Additionally, redundant power systems offer backup options to maintain operations during failures, ensuring uninterrupted production.