Google and AES to Develop Texas Data Center with Colocated Clean Energy

Google just announced a data center in Wilbarger County, Texas, that will be powered by onsite clean energy developed by US energy firm AES.

AES has already secured the land and the interconnection agreements. This “power first” approach ensures that the data center and colocated energy infrastructure come online together. Google has signed a 20-year power purchase agreement tied to the colocated assets.

The structure matters. AES will own and operate the generation, and optimize costs under a long-term energy management agreement. Google brings the compute load and the paying dollars.

AES brings powered land, the single scarcest resource in AI infrastructure today. Andrés Gluski, AES’s CEO, put a number on it: “To-date, AES has signed agreements for nearly 12 GW of energy with data center customers, 9 GW of these are PPAs directly with hyperscalers.”

This is a template that works. Not tech giants trying to become a utility by themselves overnight. The developer-led model where the power comes first and the hyperscaler shows up with a 20-year PPA.