AI data centre power demand has become the binding constraint on the technology sector’s expansion, forcing an industry-wide reorganisation that now stretches from gigawatt superclusters to modular edge sites and, potentially, into orbit. The numbers behind that pressure explain why capital is moving so fast.
The AI Data Centre Power Gap
Goldman Sachs Research estimates US data centre consumption will more than double, from roughly 31GW in 2025 to about 66GW by 2027, by which point data centres would account for 8.5% of peak summer electricity, up from 4.1% in 2025. Globally, Goldman forecasts demand could climb 165% by the end of the decade against 2023 levels.
The delivery problem is at least as large as the demand one. Goldman’s analysts estimate that only around half to 60% of the capacity scheduled over the next year or two will come online on time, held back by permitting delays, equipment shortages and a grid that was never designed for load growth at this pace.
SpaceX’s investor presentation ahead of its June Nasdaq listing put the gap in stark terms: US data centre demand hit 62GW in 2025 against just 49GW of supply. US electricity generation has grown at less than 3% annually since 2023, after fifteen years of near-stagnation, while China’s output has compounded at roughly 6%.
The same deck disclosed the economics driving investment. Tekcapital investor materials corroborate a detail from SpaceX’s presentation: Anthropic is paying $1.25 billion per month for compute access across the Colossus clusters through May 2029, and Google has agreed to pay $920 million per month from October 2026 to June 2029 for access to 110,000 Nvidia GPUs. When compute is pre-sold at those rates, years before delivery, the constraint is neither demand nor chips.
The rest of the industry is reorienting accordingly. Reflection AI signed a $1 billion compute deal with Nebius weeks after inking separate access to SpaceX’s resources, a double-sourcing strategy that has become routine as AI labs lock in capacity wherever it exists. At the small end, Duos Technologies this month signed a Master Services Agreement with Nistar to deploy up to 2MW of critical IT-load capacity in Columbus, Georgia, supporting 1,024 Nvidia B200 GPUs, on top of an existing 10MW contract at the site.
Vesari and the Geothermal Bet
For the terrestrial buildout, the most durable answer to intermittent renewables is firm baseload generation, and a new cohort of geothermal companies is positioning to supply it. On 17 July, Vesari Inc., majority-owned by London-listed Tekcapital (AIM: TEK), announced that Dr Joseph N. Moore has joined its Science Advisory Board. Moore ran Utah FORGE, the roughly $300 million Department of Energy field laboratory that has served as America’s primary enhanced geothermal proving ground.
According to a Tekcapital launch announcement, the 51% stake in Vesari is held by Tekcapital Europe Ltd, while executive chairman Clifford Gross holds the remaining 49%, having developed the underlying intellectual property outside his Tekcapital role and agreeing to transfer the eleven patent applications to Vesari at no cost once USPTO filings are complete. Vesari is Tekcapital’s fifth portfolio company.
Moore’s appointment follows a separate addition to the same advisory board: Professor Barry G. Evans, described by Tekcapital’s investor relations materials as a leading satellite communications authority, bringing connectivity expertise to Vesari’s integrated campus model.
‘Geothermal energy is uniquely suited to deliver the clean, firm, around-the-clock power that AI computing now demands,’ Moore said.
Vesari’s model pairs a geothermal power plant with high-density compute on the same site, bypassing the grid interconnection queue Goldman identifies as the industry’s chief delivery risk. Its eleven patent applications, filed on 15 July 2026 according to a Reuters brief republished via Stockopedia, cover the integration of geothermal generation with data centre infrastructure, geothermal-loop cooling for AI chip racks, waste-heat recovery, islanded electrical operation, AI workload scheduling against available energy, and low-Earth-orbit satellite routing in place of terrestrial fibre. Tekcapital has also disclosed that Vesari is in early discussions with US investment bankers about a potential reverse merger or de-SPAC transaction, with no certainty any deal will proceed.
Fervo’s IPO Sets the Benchmark
The market has already priced in what a credible enhanced geothermal company is worth. In May, Fervo Energy (Nasdaq: FRVO) raised approximately $2.2 billion in the largest clean-energy IPO in Wall Street history, closing its first day at a market value just above $10 billion. The underwriters included J.P. Morgan and BofA Securities, per Fervo’s S-1/A filing with the SEC.
That valuation rested on roughly $138,000 of 2025 revenue and a $57.8 million net loss, with its flagship Cape Station plant not expected to deliver first power until late 2026. Fervo’s Q1 2026 results showed revenue of just $61,000, an operating loss of $20.1 million, and a net loss of $31.8 million, while capital expenditure reached $172.8 million in the quarter as construction accelerated. The company has secured $421.4 million in non-recourse project financing for Cape Phase I and expects approximately $1.2 billion of further capex from Q2 2026 through Q1 2027.
Fervo’s backers include Bill Gates’s Breakthrough Energy Ventures, and the company holds a framework agreement with Google for up to three gigawatts, alongside deals with Shell and Southern California Edison. The shares have since settled around $35, valuing the company at nearly $10.3 billion.
For Vesari, Fervo’s listing establishes what the public markets will pay for the thesis long before profitability. The patents are filed, not yet granted, and no campus has been built. Cape Station’s construction schedule and cost trajectory will be the industry’s clearest read on whether enhanced geothermal can deliver at the scale AI infrastructure now requires.
