The Daily Dig
National Grid Ventures, the commercial arm of National Grid plc, has agreed to invest $1.75 billion for a 35% stake in Joulent LLC. The deal forms a strategic partnership to develop contracted power and electrical infrastructure for large load customers in the U.S., a category increasingly driven by data centers and other power-intensive industries.
The investment funds Joulent's foundational project, Project Kilby, a 2.67 GW co-located power facility in West Texas. Project Kilby is being developed by Joulent in a 50/50 partnership with Chevron Corporation. The facility will supply dedicated electricity to a Microsoft-operated data center under a 20-year power purchase agreement.
Development is already at an advanced stage. GE Vernova turbines have been secured and EPC capacity has been reserved, with first power targeted for 2028.
Beyond Kilby, Joulent's model centers on what it calls its Across-the-Meter approach. It combines co-located gas generation, battery storage and renewables integration to accelerate speed-to-power for new industrial loads. The company says it has a multi-gigawatt pipeline of additional projects that could add growth over time.
The deal sits inside National Grid's broader push into U.S. large load demand. The company expects to connect more than 10 GW of demand across the U.K. and U.S. combined over the next five years through its data center connection program, and it sees the Joulent partnership as a way to strengthen those relationships. The $1.75 billion is incremental to National Grid's existing five-year capital program of at least £70 billion, roughly $90 billion, through 2031, and will be funded from the group's balance sheet. A final investment decision tied to the investment is expected in 2026.
Snapshot:
Project Name: Project Kilby
Developer: Joulent LLC (50/50 partnership with Chevron Corporation)
Investor: National Grid Ventures (35% stake in Joulent, $1.75 billion)
End User: Microsoft-operated data center
Location: West Texas
Sector: Data center and large load power infrastructure
Capacity: 2.67 GW co-located power facility
Power Agreement: 20-year power purchase agreement with Microsoft
Key Equipment: GE Vernova turbines (secured)
EPC Status: EPC capacity reserved
Target Timeline: First power delivery by 2028
Investment Amount: $1.75 billion for 35% stake in Joulent
Related Capital Program: Incremental to National Grid's £70 billion (approximately $90 billion) five-year capital program through 2031
Funding Source: National Grid Group balance sheet headroom
Final Investment Decision: Expected in 2026
Broader Ambition: National Grid targeting more than 10 GW of data center demand connections across the U.K. and U.S. over the next five years
TheJobWalk Thoughts
For GCs and EPC firms chasing data center work, Kilby is worth watching closely. EPC capacity is already reserved and turbines are already secured, well ahead of a 2028 delivery target. That kind of lead time shows how far in advance the real decisions get made on projects like this. By the time a large load power project shows up in public announcements, the key contracting relationships are often already locked in.
There's also a structural read here for business development teams. Joulent's Across-the-Meter model is designed to accelerate speed-to-power by combining co-located gas generation, battery storage, renewables integration and grid connections closer to the load, while preserving a longer-term path to full grid connection.
In practical terms, that likely means more of these projects get built as standalone power campuses sited next to the data center, rather than waiting on a separate utility build-out. If that pattern holds, work that might once have moved through a utility's own contracting process could instead get packaged under a single large load developer. That changes who GCs and subs need to be building relationships with to get in front of these opportunities early.
