Intersect Power, Google and TPG Collaborate to Provide RE and Storage to AI Data Centres
US-based Intersect Power has partnered with Google and TPG Rise Climate to co-locate data centres with renewable power plants, targeting a USD 20 billion investment in clean energy infrastructure by 2030 to meet growing AI and electricity demands.
December 12, 2024. By Mrinmoy Dey
Intersect Power is targeting a USD 20 billion investment in renewable power infrastructure by the end of the decade. Intersect Power has already begun financing the partnership’s first co-located clean energy project, which is expected to be operational in 2026 and fully complete by 2027.
This innovative ‘power-first’ approach to data centre development represents an evolved model for significantly increasing the speed of infrastructure deployment, easing grid burden, and improving overall reliability and affordability for energy customers.
By co-locating data centre load with large amounts of high capacity factor, low-cost, clean electricity, and added battery storage, data centres can achieve high percentages of renewable energy while reducing the transmission required to connect generation to load over longer distances.
Commenting on the development, Sheldon Kimber, CEO and Founder of Intersect Power said, “This partnership is an evolution of the way hyperscalers and power providers have previously worked together. We can and are developing innovative solutions to expand data centre capacity while reducing the strain on the grid.”
He further added, “Deep, collaborative partnerships combined with creative problem-solving are the only way that we can meet the explosion of AI growth, as well as society’s accelerating electricity demand.”
Amanda Peterson Corio, Global Head of Data Center Energy at Google stated, “To realise AI’s potential, the growth in electricity demand must be met with new, clean power sources. The scale of AI presents an opportunity to completely rethink data centre development — by co-locating them where possible with the grid-connected carbon-free energy that keeps them up and running,”
She further added, “We’re bringing this opportunity to life by combining pioneers at the intersection of data centres and clean energy development to synchronise load growth with new power generation in a novel way. We hope to replicate this model in multiple markets across the US and around the world.”
Jim Coulter, Executive Chairman of TPG and a Managing Partner of TPG Rise Climate stated, “Meeting the energy and computing demands of our next-generation economy is necessitating the development of new models and partnerships.”
Ed Beckley, a Managing Partner of TPG Rise Climate added, “By aligning capital, innovation, and ambition, we expect this partnership to achieve unprecedented scale at our first co-located project, and we have set ourselves on a course to deliver several more large scale co-located data centres and clean energy power plants across the US.”
Under the terms of the partnership, Intersect Power will build new clean energy assets, with Google providing offtake via newly constructed data centre campuses as an anchor tenant in co-located industrial parks. Once built, the Google data centre would come online alongside its own clean power, bringing new generation capacity to the grid to meet its own load.
To further its vision throughout the US, Intersect Power also announced a more than USD 800 million funding round led by TPG Rise Climate and Google, with participation from Climate Adaptive Infrastructure and Greenbelt Capital Partners.
please contact: contact@energetica-india.net.
Aman Mehtani
Founder & Group CEO
ADM Group Offers Smart, Sustainable Solutions for Global Automotive Industry
Gaurav Dolwani
CEO
From Scrap to Sustainability: LICO Materials’ Circular Economy Approach
Gaurav Kumar
Head of Supply Chain and Manufacturing
Euler Motors Bridges Cost Gap Between EVs and ICE Vehicles with Localization
Shveta Arya
India Region Leader
Powering India’s Mobility Future: Cummins Showcases Advanced Power Solutions at Bharat Mobility
Samkit Shah
Co-Founder
Jitendra EV Leading Hybrid EV Revolution with Hydrix