Alphabet buys Intersect Power to overcome power grid bottlenecks

Alphabet, Google’s parent company, has agreed to buy Intersect Power, a data center and clean energy developer $4.75 billion in cash In addition to assuming the company’s debts.

The acquisition, announced Monday, will help Alphabet expand its power generation capacity alongside new data centers without having to rely on local utilities struggling to keep up with demand from artificial intelligence companies. Securing access to the power that powers data centers has become an important part of training AI models.

Alphabet previously owned a minority stake in Intersect Power after leading Google and TPG Rise Climate 800 million dollars A strategic financing round in the company last December. This partnership set a target of $20 billion in total investments by 2030.

The acquisition includes Intersect’s future development projects, but excludes its current operations, which will be acquired by other investors and managed as a separate company.

Intersect’s new data parks, which are sites adjacent to wind, solar and battery power, are expected to be operational late next year and fully completed by 2027. Google said When it announced a minority investment.

The deal is expected to close in the first half of next year.

Google will be the primary user. However, the Intersect campuses are designed as industrial parks that can host other companies’ AI chips besides Google’s.