Energy giants collaborate across borders: NextEra (NEE.US) and Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM.US) plan to jointly invest in building a 1.2 gigawatt data center.

Chief executive John Ketchum of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NEE.US) informed investors on Monday that the company is partnering with the largest oil company in the United States, Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM.US), to build a large data center campus powered by natural gas for a potential tech client. According to materials presented to investors by NextEra Energy, this 1.2 gigawatt power plant will combine natural gas power generation with Exxon Mobil Corporation's carbon capture technology to reduce carbon emissions. Both parties plan to push the campus towards the hyperscale enterprise market in the first quarter of 2026. Hyperscale enterprises refer to large tech companies that are constructing data centers for training and running artificial intelligence applications. Currently, the company has not signed agreements with any hyperscale enterprises. NextEra Energy and Exxon Mobil Corporation have secured 2,500 acres of land for the project. According to NextEra Energy, the campus will be located in the southeastern United States, adjacent to Exxon Mobil Corporation's carbon dioxide pipeline infrastructure. NextEra Energy's stock price fell by about 3% at the close on Monday. As of the time of writing, after-hours trading saw a slight increase of 0.30%, while Exxon Mobil Corporation saw a slight increase of 0.17%. Exxon Mobil Corporation declined to comment on the partnership, but stated that "the project is progressing, and we appreciate the strategic value our partners bring to the project." A source familiar with the matter revealed that the project is currently in the early stages of a memorandum of understanding. The oil giant announced last year that it is developing natural gas solutions for data centers. CEO Darren Woods stated in October that Exxon Mobil Corporation is in discussions with potential customers and partners about data centers. While NextEra Energy is the largest renewable energy developer in the United States, it is now turning to the natural gas sector to meet the growing demand from data centers. The power company plans to launch up to 8 gigawatts of natural gas power generation capacity by 2032 and is developing a 20 gigawatt natural gas power project pipeline. CEO Ketchum stated that NextEra Energy plans to build 15 gigawatts of power capacity for data center Hub Group, Inc. Class A by 2035. This includes at least three data center campuses being developed in partnership with Alphabet Inc. Class C. "Many of these projects will start with what I call 'transitional energy solutions' including renewable energy and storage," the CEO said. "At the same time, we are also planning for subsequent natural gas power generation solutions." The tech industry is increasingly using renewable energy and growing nuclear energy to power data centers in order to meet their climate goals.