Crusoe has reportedly sealed a deal to buy 4.5GW of natural gas to power AI data centers that could go to customers such as Stargate.
It has entered into a joint venture with San Francisco investment firm Engine No. 1 which will see it gain access to power generated by seven turbines belonging to GE Vernova. The turbines will produce up to 4.5GW, and Crusoe is getting access to their entire output, according to a report in The Information.
The supply, which will circumvent the grid and be delivered directly to data centers, is likely to be in place by 2027, the report said.
Speaking to The Information, Chase Lochmiller, CEO of Crusoe, said the enormous power requirements of AI data centers mean “you really have to bring your own power.” He added: “There’s no other way for you to be able to achieve that scale that quickly.”
Engine No. 1 and Chevron announced the purchase of the GE Vernova natural gas turbines in January, with the companies stating they intended use them to build power plants co-located with data centers across the US. At the time they said the turbines would produce up to 4GW, though this figure now appears to have gotten slightly higher.
Natural gas is seen by many as a cleaner alternative to fossil fuels, and is enjoying a boom in the US as data center operators race to get their hands on the energy they need to power servers. Since taking office, President Donald Trump’s government has expressed enthusiasm for backing more natural gas projects. However, it remains considerably more polluting than renewable energy sources.
Crusoe will attempt to sell the data center capacity created by the turbines to hyperscale providers, many of which are said to be looking for multi-gigawatt sites. The company is already providing infrastructure for Stargate, a JV between OpenAI, Oracle, SoftBank, and investment firm MGX that will apparently see up to $500 billion into AI infrastructure over the next four years. According to the companies, of the total investment, $100 billion will be deployed ‘immediately,’ although the reality remains murky.
The first stage of Stargate is being hosted at a Crusoe-built facility in Abilene, Texas. DCD reported in January that the site would be served by gas turbines providing 360MW, some of which will be sourced from GE Vernova.
Lochmiller declined to say whether any of 4.5GW would be directed to Stargate, but Crusoe is said to be in discussions with multiple hyperscalers about where the capacity could be deployed.
The sheer volume of power that the deal would give Crusoe access to would make it a very attractive partner for any of the hyperscalers looking to increase capacity fast – by comparison, last year Microsoft had 5GW at its disposal for its entire data center estate.
Crusoe launched in 2018 as a cryptomining business that deployed containerized data centers to oil wells to harness natural gas that would otherwise be “flared off” and wasted. However, like many crypto data center companies, it has successfully pivoted to AI, and in December raised $600 million in a funding round that valued the business at $2.8 billion.