By: AGBI

Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund ADQ has formed a partnership with Energy Capital Partners, a US private equity company, to build power generation and energy infrastructure, primarily in the US.

The goal of the prospective $25 billion, 50-50 tie-up is to support growing energy demand by data centres, large cloud providers, and other so-called hyperscalers – large cloud service providers – in advanced technology and artificial intelligence (AI), ADQ said in a statement. 

“Meeting these power needs presents evolving challenges for governments worldwide in ensuring secure, stable and commercially competitive electricity supply,” said Mohamed Hassan Alsuwaidi, ADQ managing director and group CEO.

ECP is a New Jersey-based investor in the traditional and renewable energy sector and is owned by London-listed Bridgepoint Group.

Demand for electricity in the US is forecast to add the equivalent of today’s total consumption in California to the national total in three years, the statement said citing a report by the International Energy Agency.

The pressure on supply coming from data centres has trebled over the past 10 years and will double or more by 2028, the US Department of Energy has said.

“AI will be a major driver of US economic and job growth over the coming decade, but not unless ample new electricity supplies are developed,” said Doug Kimmelman, ECP’s founder and executive chairman . 

The two companies plan to distribute more than $25 billion in joint investments across 25 gigawatts worth of projects, primarily gas-fired power plants in the US. Total initial capital injection by ADQ and ECP is expected to be $5 billion.

The announcement by ADQ, which forms part of a trio of Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth vehicles alongside Adia and Mubadala, came as multiple senior UAE officials visited Washington to discuss increasing Emirati investment in the US and UAE access to American microchips.

Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi’s deputy ruler and UAE national security advisor, met US President Donald Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Tuesday.

Sheikh Tahnoon is the chairman of ADQ.

He also posted on social media on Wednesday about talks he held with Elon Musk and Oracle’s Larry Ellison.

Sheikh Tahnoon said the discussions focused on possible “avenues for collaboration in key sectors”, such as AI and other advanced technologies.

Sultan Al Jaber, minister of industry and advanced technology and CEO of national oil company Adnoc, was also in town, meeting US Vice President JD Vance on Monday.