Cloverleaf Infrastructure raises $300 Million from NGP and Sandbrook Capital
The power infrastructure company will use the capital to develop a new generation of large-scale clean-powered data center sites across the US.
Cloverleaf Infrastructure (“Cloverleaf”) today announced that it has secured capital commitments totaling over $300 million from private equity investors NGP and Sandbrook Capital (“Sandbrook”), alongside contributions from its management team.
Cloverleaf is a recently-formed developer of large-scale digital infrastructure sites powered by low-carbon electricity. The company is led by a team of seasoned executives with backgrounds from renowned independent power developers such as Pattern Energy and ConnectGen, as well as major data center operators such as Microsoft. Building on this extensive expertise in the power and data center sectors, Cloverleaf collaborates with regional US utilities and data center operators to deliver scalable clean electricity through strategic investments in transmission, grid interconnection, land, onsite power generation and electricity storage.
“The rapid growth in demand for electricity to power cloud computing and artificial intelligence poses a major climate risk if fueled by high-emission fossil fuels. However, it’s also a major opportunity to catalyze the modernization of the US grid and the transition to a smarter and more sustainable electricity system through a novel approach to development. Cloverleaf is committed to making this vision a reality with the support of leading climate investors like Sandbrook and NGP”, said David Berry, Cloverleaf’s CEO. Mr. Berry was previously Cofounder and CFO at clean energy and transmission developers ConnectGen and Clean Line Energy Partners.
Brian Janous, Cloverleaf’s Chief Commercial Officer and former Vice President of Energy at Microsoft, added, “The large tech companies have become dominant players in the electricity sector, and they are genuinely determined to power their growth with the lowest possible emissions. Achieving this objective doesn’t depend on disruptive new technologies as much as it does on dedicated teams working hand in hand with utility partners to maximize the use of the clean generation, storage, and other technologies we already have.”
The Cloverleaf management team also includes Chief Technical Officer Jonathan Abebe, who has held senior engineering and technical roles at the Department of Energy, Pattern Energy and Clean Line Energy and Vice President Nur Bernhardt, formerly Director or Energy Strategy at Microsoft.
Alfredo Marti, Partner at Sandbrook, remarked, “The sustainable development of digital infrastructure at scale is fundamentally a technical power problem. We have witnessed members of the Cloverleaf team effectively address this challenge for many years through a blend of creativity, specialized engineering, a partnership mindset, and astute capital deployment.”
Sam Stoutner, Partner at NGP, noted, “Having backed hundreds of energy companies in the US over more than 30 years, we believe the opportunity set for clean-powered digital infrastructure development is as compelling as anything we’ve seen before, and the convergence of exceptional talent from both the power and digital sectors at Cloverleaf is truly extraordinary.”