Alphabet to buy Intersect Power to bypass energy grid bottlenecks

Alphabet to Acquire Intersect Power for $4.75 Billion

Google parent Alphabet has announced its agreement to purchase Intersect Power, a leading data center and clean energy developer, for $4.75 billion in cash, in addition to assuming the company’s debt.

The acquisition, revealed on Monday, marks a strategic move for Alphabet to enhance its power-generation capacity and support new data centers without relying solely on local utilities struggling to meet the demands of AI companies. Access to reliable energy sources for data centers has become crucial in the training of AI models.

Previously holding a minority stake in Intersect Power, Alphabet, along with TPG Rise Climate, led an $800 million strategic funding round in the company last December. The partnership set a goal of $20 billion in total investment by 2030.

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

Intersect’s new data parks, strategically located near wind, solar, and battery power sources, are projected to be operational by late next year and fully completed by 2027, as per Google’s previous announcement.

The transaction is anticipated to be finalized in the first half of next year, with Google being the primary user of Intersect’s facilities. The campuses are designed as industrial parks capable of hosting other companies’ AI chips alongside Google’s.