Blackstone Energy Transition Partners has agreed to acquire the 774MW Potomac Energy Center in Loudoun County, Virginia, as reported by Reuters.
The Potomac Energy Center, a natural gas-fired power plant built in 2017, is located in northern Virginia, close to Washington DC.
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The area houses a quarter of current US data centre capacity.
The Potomac Energy Center has been under the ownership of investment firm, Ares Management, since 2021. The planned acquisition highlights investors’ interest in power plants close to data centres, and its location is a significant attraction.
Blackstone Energy Transition Partners senior managing director Bilal Khan stated: “This opportunity is unique […] for its location and its unparalleled access to data centres in Virginia, but also for the efficiency of the plant and the young age of the facility.”
The rise of AI and data centres is pushing power demand, with further growth expected to persist throughout the 2020s.
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By GlobalDataThis is boosting the appeal of generation assets, notably gas-fired power plants, to buyers, as they can offer the steady power supply required.
Blackstone is paying around $1bn for the Potomac facility.
The transaction underscores Blackstone’s strategy of investment in both data centres and the energy infrastructure that supports them.
Blackstone’s recent investments include a $16bn deal in September to acquire Australian data centre operator AirTrunk.
In May 2024, AI cloud platform CoreWeave revealed it had secured a $7.5bn debt facility from investment firms which included Blackstone.
Constellation Energy agreed to a $16.4bn purchase of Calpine in January 2025, in largest US power deal in almost two decades, aiming to incorporate Calpine’s predominantly gas-fired fleet into Constellation’s existing nuclear power generation mix.
The Baltimore-based energy company is in discussions with Calpine’s private equity owners to finalise an agreement that could set Calpine’s total value, including debt, at $30bn.
