Google has teamed up with Intersect Power (Intersect) and TPG Rise Climate to synchronise the development of data centers with clean energy generation, accelerating the transition to a carbon-free future for AI. The strategic partnership aims to provide scaled renewable power and storage solutions to new data centers. "The tri-party partnership brings a new approach that can enable US leadership in AI development," said Ruth Porat, President and Chief Investment Officer, Alphabet and Google.
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New Era of Clean Energy for AI
The partnership aims to address the growing demand for reliable, carbon-free power to support the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence (AI) and digital services. Together, Google, Intersect Power, and TPG Rise Climate will develop industrial parks with gigawatts of data center capacity in the US, co-located with new clean energy plants to power them.
Investments for Renewable Power
The first phase of the first co-located clean energy project is expected to be operational by 2026 and fully complete in 2027. Intersect Power also announced a funding round of more than USD 800 million, led by TPG Rise Climate and Google, with participation from Climate Adaptive Infrastructure and Greenbelt Capital Partners.
"This partnership was motivated by the reality that resources are necessary to capture AI's extraordinary potential to advance scientific breakthroughs and solve critical challenges in healthcare, education and beyond — and generate economic growth," Google said in a statement on December 10.
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"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 center capacity while reducing the strain on the grid," said Sheldon Kimber, CEO and Founder of Intersect Power. "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."
"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 center 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 Center Energy at Google. "We're bringing this opportunity to life by combining pioneers at the intersection of data centers 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."
Build New Clean Energy Assets
Under the terms of the partnership, Intersect Power will build new clean energy assets, with Google acting as an anchor tenant in co-located industrial parks via its newly constructed data center campuses. Once operational, the Google data center will come online alongside its own clean power source, contributing new generation capacity to the grid to meet its load requirements.
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AI's Potential to Boost US GDP
According to Google, economists estimate that AI could contribute over a trillion dollars annually to US GDP by 2030.
Intersect Power, a clean energy company, provides scalable low-carbon solutions to customers in global energy markets. It is a portfolio company of TPG Rise Climate, a private equity investor focused on scaling climate solutions globally. Google's partnership with Intersect Power and TPG Rise Climate will deliver new clean energy that is purpose-built and right-sized for the data center.
