Sun, wind and batteries: Google will add gigawatt energy complexes to its AI data centers

Google is investing in the construction of mega-energy parks to generate renewable energy – the IT giant seeks to provide electricity to its data centers. In particular, he entered into a partnership agreement with independent energy producer Intersect Power. Investment firm TPG Rise Climate LP is also involved in the deal, Bloomberg reports.

The consortium will design and build large-scale energy complexes adjacent to data center campuses that will include multi-gigawatt renewable energy sources, energy storage and associated power transmission infrastructure. This will cost approximately $20 billion.

To support the project, Google also invested in Intersect Power equity. TPG led the funding round, which included participation from Google by CAI and Greenbelt Capital Partners. A total of $800 million has been raised. New investments will help Intersect obtain additional borrowed funds for the construction of energy facilities.

Image Source: Intersect Power

Google’s plan is to build data centers and new energy facilities so that they connect to the same substations. This should help speed up their commissioning. Google says the company intends to pay 100% of the grid upgrade costs for these projects. The partners estimate that a 1 GW AI data center campus will require 1 GW of solar and wind capacity, as well as 1 GW of energy storage capable of operating for two to four hours – all on an area of ​​more than 4 thousand hectares.

Energy parks will provide an alternative to the aging U.S. power grid, which is struggling to cope with the demands of AI data centers and the parallel power supply to homes, transportation and industry. Google, Microsoft and AWS, as well as other major data center operators, need multibillion-dollar investments to meet AI’s energy needs. Everyone, including Google, is looking at small modular reactors, but they won’t be operational until the 2030s.

According to the Intersect press service, the company will build new clean energy generation facilities, and Google will become its anchor client. This way, Google queries will be fully matched to the available capacity. Intersect is currently raising debt for its first project with Google, which is scheduled to launch in 2026. The company has not yet disclosed the parameters and location of the project.