Google to spark $20bn green power spree in AI data centre 'rethink' pact
Tech giant addresses bottlenecks as grid upgrades lag behind rising power demand, including from artificial intelligence
Google has entered a partnership aiming to catalyse $20bn in renewable energy investment to fuel its AI data centres as it looks to “completely rethink” their development with a “power first” mentality.
The tech giant has teamed up with US renewables developer Intersect Power and the climate investing unit of Texas private equity firm TPG to provide renewables and energy storage solutions for new data centres.
“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,” said Amanda Peterson Corio, global head of data centre energy at Google.
“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.”
Google said that grid planning and investment have “not kept pace” with the country’s economic growth – including what it says is the multi-trillion dollar economic opportunity of AI.
It said that many grids face generation capacity and transmission bottlenecks, leaving them unable to accommodate load increases. As a result, it said the time to build US power projects has more than doubled to over four years.
To address these constraints, Google said its new partnership will deliver clean power facilities purpose-built for data centres.
Intersect will build new clean energy assets, with Google buying the power for new data centres as an anchor tenant in co-located industrial parks. Intersect has already begun financing the first project, planned for completion by 2027.
Intersect describes this as a “power-first” approach to data centre development, “significantly increasing speed of infrastructure deployment, easing grid burden, and improving overall reliability and affordability for energy customers.”
“This partnership is an evolution of the way hyperscalers and power providers have previously worked together,” said Intersect CEO Sheldon Kimber.
“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.”
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