Google will buy an energy producer for $4.75 billion - ForkLog: cryptocurrencies, AI, singularity, future

# Google will acquire an energy producer for $4.75 billion

The AI boom has turned electricity into a bottleneck: tech giants are buying energy companies and ramping up capacity.

Google's parent company, Alphabet, will acquire data center and clean energy developer Intersect Power for $4.75 billion, also assuming the company's debts.

The deal will allow the tech giant to expand its power generation capacity without relying on utility companies that are struggling to meet the demand from AI companies.

Alphabet previously owned a minority stake in Intersect Power. The acquisition includes the company's future projects. The deal will close in the first half of 2026.

New data centers located near wind, solar, and battery power plants will begin operating at the end of 2026. Alphabet will be the main user.

Providing access to energy has become a critically important part of training and maintaining the operation of artificial intelligence. Companies are hitting a ceiling — they lack electricity to power huge data centers. Corporations are solving the problem in different ways.

Meta has planned energy trading to accelerate the construction of new stations in the USA. Too few electricity buyers are willing to take on the long-term commitments necessary to attract investments. The corporation's solution will allow for more such agreements to be made.

Google, in addition to mastering “traditional” energy sources, plans to conquer space. The corporation will create a system of satellites in low Earth orbit to harvest solar energy and power data centers.

Regulators in the U.S. state of Georgia have approved a plan allowing Georgia Power to proceed with the implementation of a project to create new power generation and storage facilities with a capacity of nearly 10 GW. This will be one of the largest projects in the U.S.

The state Public Service Commission unanimously voted to allow Georgia Power to acquire approximately 9900 MW of new resources. The company will be able to generate electricity from natural gas, store it in battery systems, utilize solar energy, and enter into purchase agreements over the next few years.

In Georgia, several large data center operators are located for mining and high-performance computing. Georgia Power stated that the expansion is necessary to meet the “extraordinary” growth in demand in the state.

The company believes that 80% of the new capacity will go towards data center demands.

As part of the agreement with consumer rights advocates and Commission staff, revenues from new major clients will be used to reduce tariffs. This will help limit potential increases in bills for households and small businesses.

Miners in AI

Miners continue to shift towards AI computing amid declining revenues from their core activities.

Hut 8 has signed a 15-year lease agreement for $7 billion with the cloud service provider for artificial intelligence, Fluidstack. The development of a data center in the state of Louisiana is planned.

The agreement covers 245 MW of capacity at the Hut 8 River Bend campus in West Feliciana Parish. An option for Fluidstack to have the right of first offer for an additional 1000 MW in future expansions is anticipated, subject to the availability of electricity at the site.

Hut 8 expects to receive $454 million in average annual net operating income during the contract period.

The construction at the River Bend site will be completed in the second quarter of 2027. Additional facilities will be put into operation later that same year.

Fluidstack is becoming an increasingly active partner for miners. In August, it signed a 10-year contract with TeraWulf. With the support of Google, the cryptocurrency miner will provide about 250 MW for a total of $3.7 billion.

Let us remind you that in September Google helped to close another deal with a bitcoin miner. Cipher Mining leased a data center in Colorado City (Texas ) for Fluidstac.