The artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure build-out is booming, with hyperscalers devoting up to $700 billion in capital expenditures this year to build data centers. The AI gold rush has created significant distortions across industries, including memory chips and power solutions.

Technology companies are scrambling to secure reliable energy for their growing data center footprints, and more are exploring creative solutions to bypass the slow timelines for power-grid interconnection.

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If you’re looking to capitalize on the power crunch for hyperscaler data center spending, here are three under-the-radar AI energy stocks to consider right now.

Ford is repurposing its EV facility to make battery energy storage systems

Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) is leveraging its electric vehicle infrastructure to pivot toward battery energy solutions for hyperscalers and other customers. Through its newly announced subsidiary, Ford Energy, the company is reworking its multibillion-dollar manufacturing facility in Kentucky to produce the Ford Energy DC Block, a containerized battery energy storage system (BESS) that aims to provide reliable power to utilities, data centers, and industrial facilities.

Because AI workloads place significant strain on the energy grid, they require dispatchable backup power to manage peak-demand ramp-ups. Ford’s pivot to BESS could help address these challenges faced by AI data centers, and it recently secured a five-year framework agreement to supply up to 20 gigawatt-hours of BESS capacity to EDF Renewables.

Utility providers could benefit from Ford’s battery systems because they can buy and store power when electricity rates are low and then discharge it back into the grid during peak demand. And because Ford’s batteries use lithium iron phosphate (LFP), they can respond quickly and instantly balance grid frequency and shift peak energy loads over their 20-year lifespan.

In the coming years, investors will want to see Ford’s execution on its non-automotive battery business. The company will retool its facility over the next year and aims to ship out its first utility DC blocks by late 2027. After that, it aims to deploy up to 20 GWh of grid storage annually to meet the booming electrical demands.

FuelCell Energy looks to data centers to rejuvenate its business

FuelCell Energy (NASDAQ: FCEL) has developed stationary fuel cell platforms for decades. Its fuel cells use molten carbonate to electrochemically convert cleaner-burning fuels, such as hydrogen or biogas, into electricity. Its fuel cells provide baseload energy, consistently producing power, unlike intermittent renewables like wind or solar.

The AI spending supercycle has been a boon for FuelCell’s commercial pipeline. Data center customers account for nearly 90% of its 4-gigawatt sales pipeline. FuelCell’s 12.5-megawatt fuel-cell power block provides continuous, uninterrupted on-site power for hyperscalers, allowing them to bypass power grids entirely with private, on-site energy generation.

In the second quarter, the company’s 4 GW sales pipeline grew 267% compared to the first quarter. One thing investors must bear in mind is that these are ongoing discussions and contract negotiations, and not finalized sales agreements. To meet this demand, the company is looking to increase its annual production rate capacity at its Connecticut facility to 500 megawatts (MW), which will cost it between $200 million and $275 million over the next two years.

Through the first six months of the year, the company has incurred a $104 million loss from operations. Not only that, but the company has significantly diluted shareholders’ equity in recent years to expand. FuelCell’s push into data centers could give it a much-needed boost after years of unprofitable operations, but investors should understand that this is a high-risk, high-reward stock and size their position accordingly.

Fluence Energy recently partnered with Nvidia to power its “AI factories”

Fluence Energy (NASDAQ: FLNC) emerged as a joint venture between industrial titan Siemens and global energy company AES. The company provides modular, utility-scale battery storage hardware, such as its Smartstack platform, which integrates its internally developed software to eliminate complex manual workloads and reduce battery maintenance downtime.

The company made headlines in early June when it announced a partnership with Nvidia to integrate its energy storage systems into Nvidia’s “AI factories.” Fluence’s Smartstack platform will provide system management for sensitive AI servers, including things like active monitoring and voltage stabilization. Like Ford and FuelCell, it can help hyperscalers power their data centers faster with its quick-to-deploy systems.

Competition in the space is heating up, and Fluence faces competition from other battery platforms, including Tesla and other entrants. However, the company benefits from partnering with Nvidia, where its systems are custom-built for Nvidia’s high-density Vera Rubin NVL72 rack-scale AI supercomputers. Investing in the stock comes with risks related to scaling up, but the upside potential from its Nvidia partnership makes the stock worth taking a chance on for investors with a long-term outlook.

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Courtney Carlsen has positions in Fluence Energy, Ford Motor Company, FuelCell Energy, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Fluence Energy, Nvidia, and Tesla. The Motley Fool recommends Siemens Energy Ag. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

3 Under-the-Radar AI Energy Stocks to Buy Right Now was originally published by The Motley Fool