- PowerBank and Nodiac have signed a Joint Development Agreement to deploy modular AI data centres at renewable energy sites across North America.
- The partnership will combine solar and battery storage assets with AI infrastructure to accelerate data centre deployment and unlock new revenue streams.
PowerBank Corporation has signed a Joint Development Agreement (JDA) with distributed data centre infrastructure company Nodiac Development. The plan is to develop modular AI data centres at renewable energy sites across North America.
The agreement strengthens the companies’ collaboration and establishes a framework for deploying modular, containerised data centres at PowerBank sites that already provide electricity generation, available land and permitting approvals.
Under the partnership, Nodiac will deploy scalable modular data centre units ranging from 1 MW to 20 MW at distribution-level interconnection points. This approach will bypass lengthy transmission and large-load interconnection queues, enabling faster deployment than conventional hyperscale data centres.
The JDA builds on the companies’ earlier collaboration announced in April when they signed a Letter of Intent to explore the deployment of distributed AI computing infrastructure across PowerBank’s portfolio of solar and Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) projects in North America.
Additionally, PowerBank and Nodiac will evaluate more renewable energy sites for future development. The agreement also establishes a framework for joint project development and outlines how both companies will share project cash flows.
The partnership comes as artificial intelligence continues to drive record electricity demand across North America. According to the International Energy Agency, data centres in the United States will increase electricity consumption by approximately 130% by 2030. This accounts for nearly half of the country’s total electricity demand growth during that period.
The Ontario Independent Electricity System Operator projects electricity demand in Ontario will increase by 75% between 2025 and 2050. The data centres are expected to contribute around 13% of new demand by 2035.
PowerBank believes that colocating AI data centres directly at renewable energy sites will shorten deployment timelines from years to months while reducing pressure on electricity transmission infrastructure.
Chief Executive Officer Dr. Richard Lu said the agreement moves the partnership from a shared vision to an execution framework that will transform existing renewable energy assets into platforms for distributed AI computing.
He added that integrating electricity generation with computing infrastructure will accelerate AI deployment while creating long-term value from PowerBank’s renewable energy portfolio.
Nodiac Chief Executive Officer Robert Sher also described the agreement as a significant milestone. He noted that access to electricity remains the biggest constraint for AI infrastructure development and said the partnership will allow both companies to deploy computing capacity rapidly by using renewable energy sites with existing generation and grid connections.
The agreement supports PowerBank’s broader strategy to position AI computing infrastructure and modular data centres as a core business alongside its solar and battery energy storage operations.
PowerBank currently manages a renewable energy development pipeline exceeding 1 GW and has built more than 100 MW of renewable energy capacity across Canada and the United States. The company expects the initiative to generate additional revenue from existing assets while supporting the expansion of North America’s digital economy.
The partnership also aligns with strong market growth for modular data centres. Industry forecasts estimate that the global modular data centre market will grow from approximately US$29 billion in 2024 to between US$75 billion and US$80 billion by 2030 as demand for artificial intelligence, cloud computing and edge computing infrastructure continues to increase.
Moving forward, PowerBank and Nodiac will negotiate commercial terms for each project individually. Both companies will proceed with construction only after securing definitive agreements, regulatory approvals, financing and confirming technical feasibility.