Joulent Receives $1.75 Billion Strategic Minority Investment

The company will use the funding to expand its high-voltage energy projects, invest in modular power infrastructure, strengthen its technical capabilities, and grow its engineering team to support rising electricity demand from AI data centers.

National Grid brings extensive experience in large-scale energy infrastructure, including high-voltage power networks, system integration, infrastructure development, and project execution. Its expertise, supply chain, and access to high-voltage electrical equipment will help Joulent deliver power projects more quickly and efficiently.

As demand for electricity grows from AI data centers, industrial projects, and other large customers, the investment gives National Grid greater access to the fast-growing U.S. power market while supporting Joulent's expansion.

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Joulent's Across-the-Meter™ platform delivers reliable power close to where customers need it before connecting to the electricity grid. This approach allows the company to quickly expand to multi-gigawatt campuses while creating additional power capacity that can later support local power grids. The platform is also designed to incorporate renewable energy sources, starting with solar.

As part of this investment, Joulent has secured a 50% ownership stake in its first project, Kilby. The project was developed with support from GE Vernova and Energy Forge, a subsidiary of Chevron Power Solutions, which provided engineering, commercial, and financial expertise.

Kilby will provide about 2.67 gigawatts of power for a Microsoft-operated data center campus under a 20-year power purchase agreement. The project serves as the first example of Joulent's plan to build a large-scale platform that delivers reliable, cost-effective power without placing additional pressure on local power grids or increasing costs for consumers.

"We are collaborating with Joulent in providing the large-scale power generation and electrification solutions that are needed to meet the specific demands of AI compute," said Pablo Koziner, Chief Commercial & Operations Officer, GE Vernova. "National Grid is a valued customer across the U.S. and Europe and their investment signals confidence in Joulent and the strong collaboration between our companies."

“American innovation is moving faster than the power infrastructure built to support it,” said Chris James, Joulent's Founder and CEO. “Joulent was created to close that gap. This investment from National Grid Ventures strengthens our ability to deliver reliable, large-scale power on the timelines that AI infrastructure and advanced industry now require. We are building an independent company designed for speed, scale, and execution, without shifting the cost of that growth onto local communities, while also providing tailor-made and cost-competitive solutions for our customers.”

“Our investment in Joulent is a disciplined, partner-led investment in contracted critical infrastructure for the AI-driven large load economy,” said Zoë Yujnovich, National Grid Chief Executive. “Through National Grid Ventures, we are gaining exposure to a major source of electricity demand growth that diversifies our regional U.S. exposure and is supported by strong partners. It extends National Grid’s core strengths of investing in long-duration infrastructure with contractual cash flows and attractive risk-adjusted returns.”

About Joulent

Founded by Chris James, Joulent is an energy technology company that develops large scale power solutions for AI data centers and other high performance computing industries. The company provides reliable baseload power designed to meet growing energy demand while reducing pressure on existing electricity grids.

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