Verne and Vema Hydrogen Partner to Deliver Carbon-Free Power for Data Centers

Data center power supplier Verne has agreed for a future hydrogen purchase and sale agreement with H2 project developer Vema Hydrogen to supply carbon-free engineered mineral hydrogen (EMH) as early as 2028.

Hydrogen is a light, energy-dense and carbon-free gas which is produced either through steam reforming of methane or by electrolyzers splitting the H2 from water. Vema’s technology is different from those methods  in that it uses geoscience to create hydrogen from naturally occurring reactions below the earth’s surface, according to the company.

Verne develops on-site prime and backup power generation through natural gas, hydrogen and storage technology. The rise of artificial intelligence training factories and cloud-based computing, coupled with an aging grid, is leading many digital infrastructure companies to pursue behind-the-meter and co-located energy resources to match their industry’s growing electricity load needs.

“Artificial intelligence is driving unprecedented demand for power, and the industry desperately needs scalable solutions like Vema’s Engineered Mineral Hydrogen,” said Ted McKlveen, Verne Co-founder & CEO, in a statement. “We are excited to partner with Vema to offer our data customers a solution that meets not only their rising power needs, but also their sustainability goals.”

Through this agreement, Verne will utilize Vema’s hydrogen to provide low-emission power generation to its data center customers. Hydrogen does not produce carbon dioxide emissions at the point of use.

Vema expects to expand production to more than 36,000 metric tons of EMH over the course of this 10-year power agreement.

“There is a robust market for baseload power generation across the US, where data centers are straining the grid,” said Pierre Levin, CEO of Vema Hydrogen. “With our engineered mineral hydrogen and Verne’s power solutions, data centers will have access to affordable, clean power that is not dependent on state or federal incentives. As we power California’s fastest-growing markets with clean hydrogen, we look toward expanding our hydrogen to markets globally and supporting AI-driven power hubs.”