Japan's Biggest Power Producer Teams With Dell on $15 Billion AI Data Center

Japan's largest power producer is stepping into the AI race. JERA signed a memorandum of understanding on Thursday with Dell Technologies and UK-based AI infrastructure developer RHAELM to build a $15 billion hyperscale data center next to its thermal power station in Chiba — the opening move in a standardized, national-scale model for AI infrastructure in Japan.

Under the plan, announced by the three companies, a 400-megawatt-class facility will rise on land adjacent to JERA's Chiba power plant, near Tokyo. RHAELM will develop, construct, operate and finance the site, with Apollo Global Management acting as strategic investment and financial partner. The companies described it as Japan's largest single-site AI infrastructure deployment.

Rather than waiting years for a grid connection, the data center will draw power directly from the neighboring plant. JERA will make available land beside its Chiba thermal power station and supply 400 megawatts of power capacity under a 15- to 25-year agreement, sidestepping one of the biggest bottlenecks in global data center construction.

The Chiba site is expected to begin operating in phases in 2028 and reach its full 400 MW capacity in 2029. Dell will provide standardized, rack-scale AI infrastructure for the facility, using a uniform, repeatable architecture instead of customized designs for each deployment.

"By bringing our capabilities spanning the full liquefied natural gas value chain, from fuel procurement and shipping through to downstream power generation, together with Dell and RHAELM, we can help AI infrastructure come online faster with access to the large-scale, reliable energy it needs in a complex and fuel-constrained market like Japan," said JERA Global CEO Yukio Kani.

Chiba is meant to be the first of many. The three companies aim to create a standardized, repeatable and scalable model from the outset, reducing the lengthy lead times and complexity of building AI data centers independently — with ambitions to develop several gigawatts of capacity nationwide in the 2030s using JERA's other power stations, and eventually apply the model in other global markets.

JERA, jointly owned by Tokyo Electric Power and Chubu Electric Power, operates one of the world's largest LNG and power portfolios. Its involvement underscores how power companies have become the gatekeepers of the AI boom: with data center demand surging worldwide, direct access to generation capacity is fast becoming the scarcest input in the compute race.

The deal lands as Japan accelerates its AI infrastructure ambitions amid intense regional competition, with binding contracts, final financing and permits still to come. The message is clear: Tokyo wants AI compute treated as national infrastructure, with the power plant — not the real-estate lot — as the starting point.