National Grid invests $1.75bn in US data centre power developer

In short: National Grid is investing $1.75bn in a US company that builds power supplies for data centres used to run AI.

What happened

National Grid, a UK utility company, said it will invest $1.75bn to buy a 35 percent stake in Joulent, a US energy developer. The investment is being made through National Grid’s investment arm.

Joulent focuses on supplying electricity to data centres, which are large buildings filled with computers. These sites are growing quickly because companies are building more computing capacity for AI.

National Grid said the deal gives it more exposure to rising US electricity demand. The company already earns a large share of its profit in the US, through electricity and gas networks in New York and Massachusetts.

The funding will support Joulent’s main project with Chevron in west Texas. The project aims to deliver 2.67 gigawatts of electricity to a Microsoft data centre by 2028. That is a very large amount of power, closer to what a small region might use than a single office building.

Joulent says it can combine several power sources, including gas turbines, renewable power, and battery storage. This is meant to help data centres get reliable power faster, at a time when connecting to the electricity grid can take years.

Why it matters

AI needs a lot of electricity, and it can draw power in sudden bursts, like many ovens turning on at once. As more data centres are built, utilities and energy developers will play a bigger role in whether new AI services can expand, and how quickly.

Source: Financial Times