Joulent, LLC says it was three years in the making. On June 22 the Houston-based company announced its launch, describing itself as an energy company built around technology and aimed at supplying reliable power in multi-gigawatt quantities.
Engine No. 1 founded and developed the business, working in strategic collaboration with GE Vernova. Joulent remains privately held, with Engine No. 1 as its backer. Its stated pledge is to power the country’s digital infrastructure without pushing up electricity costs for consumers.
First project in West Texas
Joulent’s first project already has a customer. Engine No. 1 and Chevron have been collaborating on Project Kilby, a natural-gas plant in West Texas next to a data center run by Microsoft. Output is expected to reach approximately 2.67 gigawatts.
The contract runs 20 years. Energy Forge One LLC, a wholly owned Chevron subsidiary, is the seller and Microsoft Corporation is the buyer. According to the announcement, the plant is built for hyperscale AI workloads and aims to ease the load on the regional grid that local consumers use.
“By building new power generating facilities, Joulent enables customers across industries to power the next chapter of American innovation,” said Chris James, who is founder and CEO of both Engine No. 1 and Joulent. He said the approach reduces pressure on existing grids and keeps rates affordable.
Microsoft’s Noelle Walsh, president of Cloud Operations + Innovation, gave the customer’s view. “Working with Joulent allows us to align long-term power with our growing capacity needs,” she said, adding that the arrangement helps Microsoft keep delivering high-performance compute at scale.
How the model works
The company’s trademarked approach is called “Across-the-Meter.” A plant is built at the customer’s site, so supply sits beside demand, and it links to the wider grid down the line.
That sequence, Joulent says, lets it reach multi-gigawatt campuses quickly. Once connected, surplus capacity from its projects is expected to be exported, which could allow local power markets to grow. Solar is named as the first renewable source for later expansion.
Sources
- Joulent Launches to Deliver Multi-Gigawatt Power Solutions for American Innovation
- Joulent Launches to Deliver Multi-Gigawatt Power Solutions for American Innovation
