Global investment firm, KKR, together with Summit-based Energy Capital Partners, the largest private owner of power generation and renewables in the U.S., recently announced a $50 billion partnership that aims to accelerate the development of data center and power generation and transmission infrastructure for the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud computing globally.
This strategic partnership combines KKR’s deep expertise in digital infrastructure, power, and the energy value chain with ECP’s premier energy transition platform in electrification and power and renewable generation.
Advancements in AI are fueling an unprecedented demand for data centers, but a limited availability of reliable power is impeding the strategic goals of the world’s largest technology companies, enterprises, and governments looking to deploy AI.
“Data center power demand is expected to grow by 160% by 2030, a demand that will go unmet without the right infrastructure in place, which is critical to boosting productivity, supporting electrification and helping countries create a competitive edge in AI. At the same time, the scaling of this mission-critical infrastructure must be done affordably, reliably, and sustainably, while addressing the needs of all stakeholders – from technology companies to end consumers,” Joe Bae, co-chief executive officer, KKR, said.
“In order for the U.S. to maintain its advantage in AI, we will need massive new investments in power infrastructure on an accelerated basis that are capable of addressing concerns related to electricity prices and carbon emissions,” Doug Kimmelman, founder and senior partner, ECP, said. “We are committed to delivering solutions for our strategic partners and our investors through ECP’s strong utility relationships and expertise investing across a wide variety of power generation, renewable, and battery storage assets.”
The partnership is designed to deliver scaled data center and power solutions for hyperscalers and other market participants to support their infrastructure needs across geographies to drive model training, tuning, and inferencing at scale.
KKR and ECP plan to engage with industry leaders including utilities, power and data center developers, and independent power producers to accelerate the delivery of data center campuses required by hyperscalers.
KKR is funding the strategic partnership from existing infrastructure and real estate strategies and insurance accounts managed by KKR. ECP is funding the strategic partnership from existing and future infrastructure capital pools.
