On-site power generation developer for the data center sector, AVK, has launched a dedicated entity to fund and own on-site power infrastructure and deliver it directly to customers as a service.

AVK Capital is backed by the investment AVK secured from Partners Group last month. The Swiss private equity firm acquired a majority stake in AVK and said it intends to invest more than $1 billion of equity, backed by debt financing, to accelerate AVK’s expansion.

According to the company, it aims to provide data center developers and other industries with a route to a powered site without them having to carry the capital cost of the power infrastructure on their own balance sheets.

Under the new model, AVK will select and engineer the most preferential power solution for the site, including options such as microgrids, fuel cells, renewable integration, standby systems, and its own proprietary power solution, the AVK PowerPod.

AVK Capital will fund and own the infrastructure, with the developer purchasing energy via a long-term Power Purchase Agreement.

Ben Pritchard, CEO, AVK, said: “Access to power is the single biggest constraint on data center development in Europe, and the cost of solving it is the second. AVK Capital takes both off the table. We already design, build, operate, and maintain on-site power at commercial scale, and being able to fund and own it as well means a developer can contract for power in the same way they contract for any other service. That is what speed to power means in practice, and it is what the market has been asking for. No other business can bring the funding, the technology, and the delivery together under one roof the way AVK can.”

AVK launched its PowerPod system in April of this year, explicitly targeting the data center market. The unit comprises an engine for power delivery, switchgear, UPS, controls, and enclosures. According to the company, it can connect to the grid and operate completely off-grid, providing flexibility for data center customers looking to power their operations.

AVK touts a 2GW pipeline, and recently launched its first microgrid at a PureDC data center in Dublin, Ireland. The 110MW on-site microgrid, powered via natural gas engines, was billed at the time as Europe’s first large-scale microgrid.

The system comprises three interconnected energy centers, with each building generating up to 30MW of power. Energy Centre 1 (EC1) and EC2 will be fully operational by the end of 2026, followed by EC3 at a later stage.