Finance

The AI Frenzy Could Unlock More Money for Clean Energy

The AI Frenzy Could Unlock More Money for Clean Energy

The world’s biggest investors are tripping over themselves to plow money into the power sector for artificial intelligence. The resulting frenzy could accelerate the energy transition if companies can harness the capital into the right projects.

Private-equity firms KKR and Energy Capital Partners recently agreed to invest a combined $50 billion in data-center and power-generation projects, topping a planned $30 billion fund in the works from BlackRock, Microsoft and a United Arab Emirates state-backed investor.

Other investment titans like Blackstone and Apollo are channeling billions of dollars into data centers and related infrastructure. Blue Owl Capital recently became part of a $3.4 billion joint-venture developing a data center in Texas it hopes to run on wind and solar power.