Axios Pro – Cloverleaf raises $300M for clean energy data centers

By Katie Fehrenbacher
July 17, 2024

Clean energy data center company Cloverleaf Infrastructure says it has commitments for $300 million from two private equity firms.
Why it matters: The world’s biggest tech companies are in a land grab over projects that can provide clean energy for new data centers to support AI.

Zoom in: Sandbrook Capital and NGP Energy Capital have committed $150 million each to the firm.

• The funds will be used to buy land and develop energy infrastructure for the projects.
• Houston-based Cloverleaf also said that Nur Bernhardt, formerly director of energy
  strategy at Microsoft, has joined the firm.

Catch up quick: Cloverleaf was co-founded by Brian Janous, the former vice president of energy at Microsoft, who’s acting as chief commercial officer.

• In an interview last month, Janous described the new company as a developer of powered land sites.
• “We’re working on behalf of anyone that wants to build a very large energy-intensive application, whether that’s a data center or a factory or chip fab,” Janous said.
• The company also works with utilities to provide clean energy for projects, whether that’s tapping into grid-enhancing technologies to find more capacity or finding new ways to add energy resources on site.

The big picture: Big tech companies like Microsoft and Google are adding new data centers at a rapid clip as they invest in AI.

• The tech firms would prefer to power those new data centers with clean energy to help them meet their aggressive net zero goals.
• But with long lines to connect clean energy projects to the grid, and utilities reaching capacity in certain regions, the companies will need to get creative.