From the front lines in Ukraine to critical infrastructure: How PowerUP is deploying hydrogen generators. Interview with PowerUP

Hydrogen-powered generators are moving from experimental technology to real-world infrastructure, including active use on the front lines in Ukraine. PowerUP is an Estonian energy technology company that is developing hydrogen fuel-cell generators that can operate silently and without emissions, even indoors. In addition, the company recently  secured €10 million in a Series A funding round to accelerate the manufacturing and commercialization of its hydrogen-powered electric generators.

In this interview for AIN, Ivar Kruusenberg, founder and CEO of PowerUP, explains how the company’s technology is being used on the front lines in Ukraine, why hydrogen is becoming critical for both civilian infrastructure and defense, and how lessons from war, space exploration, and Europe’s energy crises are shaping the future of resilient power systems.

Let’s start with an introduction. Tell us about PowerUP  

I have more than 20 years of experience in fuel cells, batteries, and related materials. PowerUP was founded in 2016, when we began addressing energy resiliency challenges in the United States. Many people are unaware that the US power grid is outdated. As a result, energy companies are often forced to shut down electricity during strong winds to prevent grid failures that can cause wildfires, such as those seen in Los Angeles and north of San Francisco.

Today, we operate primarily in Europe, with our headquarters in Estonia. We also have entities in Finland and Poland, an office in the Netherlands, and continued operations in the United States. Our solutions address energy resiliency for the civilian market while also serving defense needs, where the unique properties of our technology are especially valuable.

What are the key technological differences between PowerUP’s hydrogen generators and traditional solutions?

If we’re talking about the defense, I think the main advantage is coming from the low heat map and low noise. The war in Ukraine is now demonstrating that if you have any heat map or noise, this will cause the attack by the drones or some other ammunition. Because the drones with the thermal cameras today would find any diesel generator working.

What were the main challenges you had to overcome when developing modular fuel cell systems?

The biggest challenge from the very beginning has been to make fuel cells work as electric generators. For this reason, we started with software development.

Another major challenge has been educating people about hydrogen. Many still believe it is an extremely dangerous gas that cannot be used safely. We need to explain that while hydrogen is flammable, like any other fuel, it is often even safer because it is very light, and the likelihood of gas accumulation in a ventilated space is extremely low.

The third major challenge is supplying hydrogen to customers. In Ukraine, we were surprised to find that hydrogen is quite easily available for those using our technology. In defense applications, hydrogen is already used in surveillance balloons, and it is also a widely used industrial gas.

As a result, finding hydrogen is often not as difficult as customers expect. This is another educational aspect of our work – helping customers connect with hydrogen suppliers, as hydrogen is still relatively new for many people.

Can the hydrogen generator fully replace the diesel systems? 

Absolutely, it definitely can replace a diesel generator, and it can also be easily combined with batteries. Batteries, as energy storage devices that everyone knows, get empty after you consume a certain amount of electricity and then need to be recharged. Our technology is developed in a way that it is easily compatible with batteries and can be used very efficiently in a hybrid setup with lithium-ion batteries.

How much does it cost? 

Our systems today start from €4,000 and go up to €50,000, depending on the size of the solution. We produce different units, from very small backpackable versions of 25 watts up to systems delivering tens of kilowatts of electricity.

How is your technology currently being used in Ukraine?

In Ukraine, we work directly with soldiers. Our technology is mainly used for drone battery charging and as a direct replacement for diesel generators. That is what we are doing.

We are also negotiating and exploring ways to support Ukrainian critical infrastructure. This includes hospitals, clinics, and pharmacies, and how we can power refrigerators for medications, vaccines, blood, and similar needs. We also aim to help in other areas where power outages are the biggest problem.

Read more: “We’re building a monster”: Interview with NORDA Dynamics CEO on developing autonomous FPV drone systems in Ukraine

How is it financed for Ukraine?

Today, it is financed by private individuals and by soldiers themselves. However, we are actively looking into funding opportunities. As we know, Europe is contributing in different ways, and through national funds we are trying to deliver more equipment to Ukraine in 2026, 2027, and beyond. We all hope the war will end soon, but then another challenge begins: rebuilding the country, and we will definitely be there to help Ukraine.

What lessons learned from operating in Ukraine have had the greatest impact on your product development?

One lesson we learned is that drone operators often want to combine generators with their existing battery packs. They also want a separate 220-volt output to run other equipment. As a result, we are now implementing an internal inverter that allows users to get more power and higher voltage directly from the generator. We have also improved battery connectivity, both from a software perspective and from a connectivity wise.

And the next project we are definitely working on is hybridization – combining the battery packs with the fuel cells into one box so they do not need to use two separate energy units. This again makes their lives easier, because everyone who has worked in defense knows that less equipment, fewer components, and fewer cables are always better.

How do energy system requirements change when a product moves from the civil to the military spectrum? 

We all know that defense today uses many civilian products, so it depends on where they are applied, but defense products definitely need to be more robust. What we are also working on now is improved shielding because of new weapons that affect electromagnetics and similar factors. This is one of the areas where defense products need to differ from regular industrial products.

Obviously, color is also important, as the equipment needs to be less visible during transportation. However, there is a surprising amount of similarity overall. We initially designed the system for civilian use, but many of the features we developed work perfectly for defense applications as well.

Are they different systems for military and for civil? 

It is the same product. The differences are the color and the shielding of the electronics.

What is your market? 

Critical infrastructure

We are working mainly on critical infrastructure. We are targeting the telecommunications industry because telecommunications are something we cannot live without today. Massive electrical blackouts across Europe and elsewhere often take down telecom masts, so backup systems for telecom towers are a key focus for us.

Another important area is medical and pharmaceutical infrastructure. We are currently providing energy units for these applications, helping to secure expensive medications, vaccines, and blood refrigerators. These are among our main use cases. We are also working on security and surveillance, providing generators for surveillance systems, parking lot monitoring, security cameras, and similar applications.

Construction sector

In addition, and somewhat surprisingly, certain construction market segments are also using our technology. This includes off-grid construction as well as construction sites within cities, where quieter and more eco-friendly energy solutions are required. This is particularly specific to the Netherlands, due to local regulations and the outdated power grid.

Shelters

There is also one important area we have not yet mentioned: shelters. Shelters are extremely important in the current European context, especially in Eastern Europe. What is happening in Ukraine has catalyzed governments to reassess shelter infrastructure, much of which has not been updated since the end of World War II. In many countries, shelters were even closed. The main exceptions are Switzerland and Finland.

Now, many countries are planning to build new shelters, and our solution has proven to work very well for this application because it can be used indoors. With diesel generators, you need to build a separate facility within the shelter.

Another important advantage of hydrogen is storage. Diesel, especially with bio-additives used in Europe, degrades over time. Diesel in tanks often needs to be replaced every six months, and even then generators sometimes fail to start. Hydrogen, by contrast, can remain in cylinders for more than ten years without degradation. When power is needed, the generator can simply be started.

Which regions are your main markets?

Today, we are focused primarily on Europe. Our most active markets are Benelux and Scandinavia. Since last year, we have also been expanding into Southern Europe, especially Italy and Spain. These countries are increasingly interested in hydrogen-powered electric generators. They have also realized that hydrogen is a fuel they can produce domestically, rather than importing fuel from russia or elsewhere.

As a result, there is growing consideration of shifting critical infrastructure to hydrogen-based energy solutions instead of relying on diesel generators powered by fuel from unfriendly countries.

And in the military sector, are you working only in Ukraine or maybe in other countries too? 

We are working in other countries as well. Today, we collaborate with the Estonian government and the Estonian military. In addition, we have worked with partners in France and the Netherlands, alongside Estonia and Ukraine.

But the main market is civil, right?

So far, the main market has been civilian. We have been working with defense since 2021, but the defense sector can be extremely slow in adopting new technologies. Diesel has been the primary fuel for a very long time, and jet fuel has been the main alternative. So hydrogen has been something they didn’t want to use for many years, or it was outside the NATO supply chain, especially.

Recently, however, we have seen significant changes. Armed forces have started to realize that hydrogen can be produced locally, which simplifies and secures the supply chain. We expect that by 2026, more armed forces, beyond those already mentioned, will begin using our equipment.

When it comes to defense, our technology has also been validated by the NATO Center of Excellence. 

Is it safe to transport hydrogen, and how is it transported safely and used to recharge your systems?

Today, hydrogen is mainly transported in traditional 50-liter steel cylinders, which are commonly used in car repair shops, hospitals, and many other places. This method of gas transportation has been in use for almost a hundred years, so society is familiar with it, and it is considered safe. A newer approach to hydrogen transportation and commercialization is selling it in small cylinders that look similar to propane tanks, which people already use for barbecues, stoves, and similar purposes.

We need to spread the message that hydrogen is available and safe to use. Hydrogen can be produced locally, as is already the case in most European countries and in Ukraine. This also makes it an important part of national security for many countries.

How important is collaboration with government and defense institutions compared to working with commercial customers?

Governments are still a slow-moving environment. Bureaucracy is well known for slowing things down, and this is true in business as well. This is one of the reasons why we have not yet been able to fully use governmental projects and funds to deploy more systems in Ukraine. 

We are working on this, but it has not been easy. Energy security was not considered a priority for many years, and only recently have governments started to understand its importance. 

Working with government institutions is difficult and slow, as most startups would probably say.

PowerUP’s technology was originally engineered for space missions in collaboration with the European Space Agency. Do you continue to work in the space sector today?

We have been working for several years with the European Space Agency (ESA) on developing an energy solution for a cargo ship that is planned to land on the far side of the Moon, as well as for rovers. This collaboration definitely continues. We currently have four ongoing projects with the European Space Agency.

Hydrogen is something ESA is working on extensively right now, as hydrogen fuel cells are well known in the space industry. NASA has been using fuel cells since the 1960s, and they remain one of the main power sources in space, alongside solar panels.

For many years, the European Space Agency did not work with hydrogen and fuel cells due to globalization. Now that globalization is over, hydrogen and fuel cells are back at ESA, and we are one of the key suppliers.

We are developing a hydrogen fuel cell stack. In civilian and industrial applications, this device takes hydrogen from a cylinder and oxygen from the air. In space, it takes both hydrogen and oxygen from cylinders. These two elements are combined into water, producing electricity and a small amount of heat as by-products. This fuel cell stack is the heart of the electric generator. The fuel cell is the device that generates electricity inside the electric generator.

PowerUP recently raised €10 million. Tell us about your plans for the newly raised investment.

We raised this round to boost our sales-related activities. We are currently expanding our distributor and reseller network, looking for more partners, and strengthening our after-sales capabilities. This includes building service coverage across Europe so customers can more easily access spare parts, filters, and maintenance services and have repairs carried out more efficiently when needed.

Hydrogen for defense is definitely part of the future. It will not replace diesel or jet fuel entirely, but the future will be blended. Alongside traditional fuels, hydrogen will play a role because it can be produced locally, helps secure supply chains, and hydrogen-based technologies are quiet and have a low thermal signature, which is crucial for modern defense operations.