National Grid bets $1.75 billion on AI power demand with Joulent investment for Microsoft

UK's National Grid bets $1.75 billion on AI power boom with Joulent investment

July 1 (Reuters) - Britain's National Grid (NG.L), opens new tab said on Wednesday it will invest $1.75 billion for a 35% stake in Joulent, a U.S. energy platform developing power infrastructure for data ⁠centres, as it bets on a booming AI-driven power market. The deal will help fund Joulent's first project, a 2.67-gigawatt gas-fired facility in West Texas developed in a 50/50 partnership with ⁠Chevron (CVX.N), opens new tab, which will supply a Microsoft (MSFT.O), opens new tab-operated data centre campus under a 20-year power purchase agreement. Known as ⁠Kilby, the project has already secured critical equipment, including GE Vernova (GEV.N), opens new tab turbines ⁠and reserved engineering and construction capacity, and is aiming ⁠to start delivering power by 2028. Reporting by DhanushVignesh Babu in Bengaluru; Editing by Jonathan Ananda Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

National Grid Ventures to invest $1.75bn in Joulent power platform By Investing.com

LONDON - National Grid announced today that its National Grid Ventures unit has agreed to invest $1.75 billion for a 35% stake in Joulent LLC, a company developing power generation and high voltage infrastructure for large US electricity customers. The investment will support Joulent's initial project, Project Kilby, a 2.67 GW co-located power facility in West Texas developed in a 50/50 partnership with Chevron Corporation. The facility will supply electricity to a Microsoft-operated data center campus under a 20-year power purchase agreement, according to a press release statement. The project has secured GE Vernova turbines and reserved engineering, procurement and construction capacity, targeting first power delivery in 2028. Joulent has additional projects in its pipeline totaling multiple gigawatts. "Our investment in Joulent is a disciplined, partner-led investment in contracted critical infrastructure for the AI-driven large load economy," said Zoë Yujnovich, Chief Executive of National Grid. Noelle Walsh, Microsoft President of Cloud Operations + Innovation, said: "AI and cloud are advancing at a pace that requires closer coordination between energy and infrastructure, and we welcome National Grid Ventures' experience and capabilities in helping address this challenge and support reliable, high-performance compute at scale." The investment is additional to National Grid's existing five-year capital program of at least £70 billion by fiscal year 2031. The final investment decision is expected by the end of 2026. The transaction will be funded through the company's existing balance sheet and is not expected to affect the group's current five-year financial framework. Joulent is expected to be free cash flow positive from the early 2030s. The company develops integrated power solutions including co-located gas generation, battery storage, renewables integration and grid connections for data centers and other large electricity users. J.P. Morgan served as lead financial adviser and Evercore as financial adviser to National Grid on the transaction. This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.

UK's National Grid bets $1.75 billion on AI power boom with Joulent investment

July 1 (Reuters) - Britain's National Grid said on Wednesday it will invest $1.75 billion for a 35% stake in Joulent, a U.S. energy platform developing power infrastructure for data centres, as it bets on a booming AI-driven power market. The deal will help fund Joulent's first project, a 2.67-gigawatt gas-fired facility in West Texas developed in a 50/50 partnership with Chevron, which will supply a Microsoft-operated data centre campus under a 20-year power purchase agreement. Known as Kilby, the project has already secured critical equipment, including GE Vernova turbines and reserved engineering and construction capacity, and is aiming to start delivering power by 2028. (Reporting by DhanushVignesh Babu in Bengaluru; Editing by Jonathan Ananda)