Acquisition of Efficient, Scale Power Plant Located Within “Data Center Alley”; Well Positioned to Help Meet Growing AI and Power Demand Growth
LOUDOUN COUNTY, Va. & NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Blackstone (NYSE: BX) announced today that Blackstone Energy Transition Partners (“Blackstone”) have agreed to acquire Potomac Energy Center (“Potomac”), a 774-megawatt natural gas power plant in Loudoun County, Virginia.
The transaction represents Blackstone’s most recent investment in the power infrastructure supporting data centers and AI revolution – one of the firm’s highest-conviction areas. The Northern Virginia region currently represents approximately 25 percent of U.S. data center capacity, and the Potomac plant is located in close proximity to over 130 data centers – with significant further growth expected.
Bilal Khan, Senior Managing Director at Blackstone Energy Transition Partners, said: “This investment underscores Blackstone’s commitment to investing in the electric infrastructure required to power AI innovation. We believe Potomac is well-positioned to help meet data center-driven power demand growth in Northern Virginia.”
Mark Zhu, Managing Director at Blackstone Energy Transition Partners, added: “We are particularly excited about this investment given the opportunity to supply reliable, baseload power to the region. Potomac is one of the most efficient gas power plants in the region and has the potential to integrate a hydrogen fuel blend in the future, which could provide future environmental benefits.”
Lee Davis, CEO of Creto Energy, Blackstone Energy Transition Partners’ North America power platform, added: “I am tremendously excited about this investment. Potomac has a reputation and history for providing reliable and high-quality generation capacity, which are critical to helping support the region’s growing power needs.”
Blackstone is a leader in investing in the infrastructure powering AI innovation – across not just energy but a wide array of areas. Blackstone is the largest data center provider in the world with major investments in both Northern Virginia and globally. The firm also recently made major investments in CoreWeave, a specialized provider of critical cloud infrastructure pioneering the AI revolution, and DDN, a global leader in AI and data intelligence solutions.
Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Santander and Jefferies LLC served as M&A advisors to Blackstone on this transaction.
About Blackstone
Blackstone is the world’s largest alternative asset manager. We seek to deliver compelling returns for institutional and individual investors by strengthening the companies in which we invest. Our more than $1.1 trillion in assets under management include global investment strategies focused on real estate, private equity, infrastructure, life sciences, growth equity, credit, real assets, secondaries, and hedge funds. Further information is available at www.blackstone.com. Follow @blackstone on LinkedIn, X (Twitter), and Instagram.
Blackstone Energy Transition Partners
Blackstone Energy Transition Partners is Blackstone’s energy-focused private equity business, a leading energy investor with a successful long-term record, having invested approximately $23 billion of equity globally across a broad range of sectors within the energy industry. Our investment philosophy is based on backing exceptional management teams with flexible capital to provide solutions that help energy companies grow and improve performance, thereby delivering cleaner, more reliable and affordable energy to meet the needs of the global community. In the process, we build stronger, larger scale enterprises, create jobs and generate lasting value for our investors, employees and all stakeholders.
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