Venture Global signs power frameworks for 10 GW data centre plan
The LNG exporter expects its first power-unit order by year-end, with further deployment tied to customer commitments.
Julian Okafor
An off-grid gas power expansion could make up to 10 gigawatts of computing capacity available by the end of 2034, subject to customers committing to the buildout. Venture Global, Inc. NYSEVG, a U.S. liquefied natural gas producer and exporter, announced on Thursday frameworks covering up to 16 additional 720-megawatt power units and associated transformers.
Venture Global identified GE Vernova Inc. NYSEGEV and Baker Hughes Company NASDAQBKR as its power-equipment counterparties. Baker Hughes, an energy technology and services provider, describes gas equipment and aftermarket services among its industrial businesses.
The Oct. 15 announcement creates a framework for equipment procurement, with future orders tied to commercial needs and customer commitments. Venture Global expects its first power-island purchase order by the end of 2026. The release gives no equipment price, project financing package or named data-centre customer.
Venture Global shares closed at US$13.27 in New York at 4:00 p.m. EDT on Oct. 14, according to NYSEVG. That closing price predates Thursday's announcement and does not establish a market reaction to the agreements.
Future Orders Depend On Customer Commitments
The framework allows Venture Global to enter definitive reservation agreements containing agreed pricing and delivery terms to reserve manufacturing capacity over time. Additional power islands and electrical equipment would be ordered through those reservations or subsequent purchase orders. Venture Global retains discretion over the timing and scope of deployment.
The proposed 720 MW units would use combined-cycle gas turbines and related equipment in configurations consistent with the company's existing infrastructure. The release identifies no turbine model or first delivery date. Its year-end milestone concerns placing an order, while the compute-capacity target extends to the end of 2034.
Venture Global says expansion would proceed in stages as customer commitments and other commercial arrangements are established. The announcement does not set out customer contract lengths, power tariffs or minimum purchase obligations. Those omissions leave the release without the commercial terms needed to estimate revenue from the proposed compute business.
"These new agreements outline a phased, disciplined expansion to make reliable, large-scale power capacity available for new compute as and when we elect," Venture Global chief executive Mike Sabel said in the release.
Sabel outlined a proposed package of gas supply, generation, closed-loop water systems, land, data centres and other infrastructure. The company describes that combination as a vertically integrated AI utility. The announced procurement framework covers power units and transformers; the release does not identify an executed customer agreement for that broader package.
The 720 MW figure describes each proposed power island, while the separate 10 GW figure describes the company's potential compute capacity. Venture Global makes the latter conditional on customer commitments, market demand and other commercial considerations. Neither figure is presented as computing capacity already available to customers.
The Existing Platform Includes Unfinished Capacity
Venture Global says its existing LNG power platform encompasses six islands that are ordered, under construction or operating, representing approximately 4.5 GW of generation. That total combines different stages of completion. The new framework would add to a platform built to serve LNG facilities entirely behind the meter.
The company says any third-party power development would be separate from and complementary to its LNG operations. It also says the expansion would not affect existing LNG sales agreements or other commercial commitments. Its Oct. 15 statement keeps LNG production and delivery as the core strategic objective.
Venture Global claims dedicated generation and closed-loop water systems would avoid additional demand on public electricity and water utilities, with no added cost to local consumers. The announcement does not provide site-level water balances or cost allocations supporting that claim. It says the new capacity would be developed at sites it owns or controls.
The wider water constraint is examined in an April 10 Brookings briefing co-written by Elham Tabassi, director of its Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technology Initiative. The briefing addresses rising electricity and water consumption from data centres and discusses measurement, standards and reporting tools. It predates Venture Global's announcement and offers sector context rather than a review of these projects.
Customer commitments will determine the pace of Venture Global's proposed rollout, extending the thread of contracting new data-centre capacity. Its announcement identifies equipment procurement and potential compute capacity as separate steps, without a customer payment schedule.
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The Oct. 15 release says initial permit applications are planned for that week, with federal, state and local regulators involved in additional permitting requirements. It supplies no approval or energization date. The next dated procurement test is the first power-island purchase order expected by the end of 2026.
