TotalEnergies targets AI-driven growth with premium power deals for data centers

TotalEnergies is securing a roughly 10% premium on some renewable power sales by bundling electricity with land, grid access and battery storage for data center development, company executives said Feb. 11, as artificial intelligence-driven demand continues to reshape corporate power markets.

The integrated model -- which goes beyond traditional power purchase agreements -- enables TotalEnergies to sell power at above-average rates while accelerating the build-out of its renewables pipeline, according to Stephane Michel, president of the company's gas, renewables and power segment.

Michel cited a recently agreed 1-GW solar PPA with Google in Texas that includes options to co-locate a 1.5-GW data center -- with TotalEnergies offering land and a grid connection -- as well as battery storage installation.

"With those kinds of offers, the data center is able to create more value because they are going to have a faster time to market," Michel said, as TotalEnergies presented its full-year results. "And second, they are going to have a lower cost of supply. And when you create value, you are able to share at least part of it."

Michel said bundled power-and-land deals allow the company to extract "around a 10% of premium" compared with selling those same electrons to another type of customer.

The executive also noted an indirect benefit from bringing consumption closer to generation: it helps advance the project pipeline and, in some locations, can increase local power prices, improving returns across other assets.

"We are going to power the AI revolution with our integrated power supply," Michel said. "We are creating additional value by providing data center fit-for-purpose solutions."

TotalEnergies has about 4 GW of projects backed by data center PPAs. Roughly one-third of these were transacted directly by the company, with the remainder completed through joint ventures, including Clearway Energy in the US and Casa dos Ventos in Brazil.

The portfolio also includes traditional pay-as-produced PPAs with Amazon Web Services and Microsoft, as well as baseload agreements delivering 100% clean, firm power matched to customer consumption, according to the company.

Overall, TotalEnergies expects its data center PPAs to generate earnings of more than $250 million/year once the projects are fully built out.

"All that is not an ambition. It is not on paper. It is a reality," Michel said.

TotalEnergies said it aims to grow its global power production by at least a quarter in 2026, targeting more than 60 TWh, up from 48.1 TWh in 2025.

A significant part of that uplift is expected to come from TotalEnergies' acquisition of a 50% stake in a 14-GW flexible generation portfolio in Western Europe -- mainly gas-fired power plants -- from Czech energy group EPH, according to the company.

The deal, which TotalEnergies expects to close in mid-2026, will add about 15 TWh/y of net power generation while increasing available cash flow by roughly $750 million/y, the company said.

Looking further ahead, TotalEnergies expects power generation to reach as much as 120 TWh by 2030, doubling the output projected for 2026.