Idemitsu Kosan, Overwatch to Develop Gas-Fired Data Centers in United States

Per a signed agreement, Idemitsu Kosan and Overwatch Capital will support the development of resilient, next-generation AI data centers across 10 U.S. states: Ohio, Texas, Illinois, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, South Carolina, and Pennsylvania. Idemitsu will deliver natural gas for on-site power generation systems capable of providing up to 1 GW, while Overwatch contributes its SIDE Platform to integrate generation, battery storage, cooling, and more.

The partnership also includes an investment by Idemitsu into Overwatch and the launch of Idemitsu’s nationwide natural gas supply operations in the United States. It will guarantee firm, long-term gas supply for tenants to power high-density AI computation through public and private grid models.

“This collaboration with Overwatch Capital marks an important step in connecting reliable, lower carbon energy with next-generation data infrastructure,” said John H. Happ III, Senior Vice President of Idemitsu Americas Holdings. “Demand for electricity to support AI is expected to grow rapidly, and through our natural gas supply operations in the United States, we are committed to providing sustainable and efficient energy solutions that contribute to the advancement of an AI-enabled society.”

The companies will accelerate the deployment of parallel data center new-builds to fulfill rising electricity demand from hyperscalers, GPU-cloud providers, and institutional investors, all of which are seeking energy-resilient platforms for AI compute at scale.

“This partnership sets a new standard for high-density, low-carbon AI data centers, empowering our clients to deploy class-leading compute at scale through Overwatch’s SIDE Platform while advancing resiliency and sustainability in the communities we serve,” said Sean Lyle, Managing Partner, Overwatch Capital.

Overwatch’s SIDE Platform integrates on-site natural gas generation, battery storage, advanced immersion cooling, and proprietary energy management systems to establish hyper-scalable sites designed for maximum uptime, efficiency, and sustainability. These facilities support next-generation GPU clusters, liquid cooling systems, and ultra-high rack power densities. The duo will also explore additional energy services for data centers, such as diesel supply for backup systems.

The SIDE Platform offers:

• Mission-critical resiliency
• Data security
• Sustainable performance
• Comprehensive energy solutions
• Rapid expansion
• Grid flexibility

U.S. Data Center Buildout

This week, Vertiv and Caterpillar signed a strategic collaboration to provide advanced energy-optimization solutions for data centers. Per the agreement, Vertiv will integrate its power distribution and cooling technologies with Caterpillar’s and Solar Turbines’ power generation and combined cooling, heat, and power (CCHP) products. The combination will deliver pre-designed architectures to simplify deployment, accelerate time-to-power, and optimize performance for data center operations.

Specifically, Caterpillar and Solar Turbines will supply natural gas-fired turbines and reciprocating engines to generate reliable, scalable electric power and thermal energy for CCHP applications. Vertiv will provide power and cooling solutions packaged as modular, pre-designed blocks to shorten design cycles and standardize deployment.

The partnership addresses the rapidly increasing demand for onsite energy solutions that deliver stable power and cooling and, together, the companies can offer a fully integrated design with validated interfaces and performance. This all-inclusive solution allows customers to accelerate design, installation, and deployment. The memorandum of understanding also represents a step toward refining the data center ecosystem, helping users overcome energy constraints to deploy optimized facilities.