Europe’s data center industry faces a growing problem: finding enough power to support rapid expansion. As artificial intelligence and cloud computing increase demand for data centers, developers are looking for faster and more reliable ways to secure electricity.
- Partners Group to Support AVK’s Expansion
- AVK Provides Power Infrastructure for Data Centers
- Grid Delays Create a Major Challenge
- AVK Has More Than 2 GW of Opportunities
- Partners Group Brings Infrastructure Experience
- AI Growth Increases Demand for Power
- AVK Management Welcomes the Partnership
- A Strategic Investment in Data Center Power
Partners Group is responding to this opportunity with a major investment in AVK Power Solutions, a UK-headquartered provider of power solutions for data centers and AI infrastructure. The global private markets investment manager has agreed to acquire a majority stake in AVK and plans to initially invest more than $1 billion in equity, supplemented by debt financing.
The transaction, announced on August 6, 2026, will give AVK additional capital to expand its power infrastructure business across Europe.
Partners Group to Support AVK’s Expansion
Partners Group will work with AVK’s management team to support the company’s next phase of growth. AVK’s existing management team will retain a minority stake in the business. The investment will come through Partners Group’s fourth direct infrastructure program, which recently reached a final close of more than $15 billion. Partners Group said its infrastructure business manages more than $40 billion in assets.
The firm plans to use its experience in infrastructure, energy and data centers to help AVK expand its offering and develop a larger infrastructure platform focused on long-term Energy-as-a-Service solutions.
AVK Provides Power Infrastructure for Data Centers
AVK Power Solutions designs, installs and maintains power infrastructure for data centers and AI facilities. Its solutions include backup power generators, behind-the-meter power infrastructure, microgrids and modular electrical power units. The company also works with alternative fuels, including biogas, biofuel and hydrogen, as part of its power solutions.
AVK has delivered more than 20,000 projects and installed approximately 3.5 gigawatts of power, according to Partners Group. The company operates across several major European data center markets, including Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris and Dublin. These markets form part of the major European data center locations commonly referred to as FLAP-D.
Grid Delays Create a Major Challenge
The investment comes as European data center demand continues to grow. Partners Group pointed to cloud adoption, rising artificial intelligence computing requirements and increasing focus on data sovereignty as factors supporting the market’s expansion. However, securing electricity from the traditional power grid can take years. Partners Group said grid connections in the major FLAP-D markets can take between seven and 15 years.
These lengthy connection timelines can create significant challenges for data center developers that need to bring new capacity online quickly. AVK’s behind-the-meter power solutions can help address this problem by allowing data centers to generate power closer to where they consume it. This approach can reduce reliance on traditional grid connections and potentially improve the speed at which new data center capacity can become operational.
AVK Has More Than 2 GW of Opportunities
Partners Group said AVK already has an advanced pipeline of more than 2 gigawatts of behind-the-meter power opportunities across Europe. The company plans to build on this pipeline as it expands its role in data center power infrastructure. Partners Group also aims to support AVK’s development of Energy-as-a-Service solutions, particularly through microgrids.
Under this model, AVK can develop and own power infrastructure while providing long-term power solutions to data center customers. This could create a more integrated approach to meeting the growing energy requirements of data centers.
Partners Group Brings Infrastructure Experience
Partners Group has previous experience across decentralized energy and data center infrastructure. The firm has invested in European decentralized energy businesses including Gren and Eteck. It has also invested in the data center sector through atNorth, a pan-Nordic data center platform.
In 2025, Partners Group acquired Life Cycle Power in the United States. The company provides turnkey behind-the-meter energy solutions, including solutions designed for data centers. Partners Group said this existing experience gives it a strong foundation to support AVK as the company expands its power infrastructure platform.
AI Growth Increases Demand for Power
The rapid development of artificial intelligence is changing the requirements of data centers. AI workloads can require significant computing capacity, which in turn increases the amount of electricity needed to operate data center facilities.
This has made access to reliable power an increasingly important consideration for data center developers.
For AVK, the partnership with Partners Group provides additional capital and infrastructure expertise at a time when demand for alternative power solutions is increasing. Its existing project pipeline also gives the company an opportunity to expand across European markets.
AVK Management Welcomes the Partnership
Nicholas Pepper, Managing Director, Infrastructure at Partners Group, said the rapid development of AI infrastructure is increasing pressure on power availability and creating challenges because of long grid connection queues.
He highlighted on-site power generation as one way to help data center operators improve their speed to power. Ben Pritchard, Chief Executive Officer of AVK Power Solutions, said the partnership will provide AVK with additional capital to expand its power solutions portfolio and support the company’s next stage of development.
A Strategic Investment in Data Center Power
The Partners Group investment highlights the growing link between artificial intelligence, data centers and energy infrastructure. As data center operators expand their facilities, access to reliable electricity has become a critical part of infrastructure planning. Long grid connection timelines have also increased interest in behind-the-meter generation and other decentralized power solutions.
For AVK, the partnership creates an opportunity to expand its presence across Europe while developing longer-term Energy-as-a-Service solutions. With more than 2 GW of behind-the-meter opportunities in its pipeline, the company has a substantial base from which to pursue further growth.
For Partners Group, the transaction adds another investment at the intersection of digital infrastructure and energy. The firm will work with AVK’s management team to support the company’s expansion and build on its position in the European data center power market.
