Dell, JERA and Rhaelm to Build $15 Billion AI Data Center Near Tokyo

Dell, JERA—the world's largest liquefied natural gas trader—and UK-based AI infrastructure provider Rhaelm announced on October 1 an agreement to build a $15 billion, 400-megawatt data center and adjacent power plant in Chiba Prefecture, near Tokyo. The project, financed by Apollo, is expected to begin operations around 2028 and will not connect to the public power grid.

Yukio Kani, global CEO of JERA, said the three companies plan to build 3 to 4 gigawatts of AI data centers and supporting gas-fired power infrastructure within five years. "The core point is to secure power supply quickly," he said. JERA, which trades 35 million tons of LNG annually, can supply fuel to the plants.

The partners estimate that building 1 gigawatt of related infrastructure would require $350–450 billion in investment, implying a total of $140 billion for the full buildout. The three companies also plan to standardize data center and power infrastructure construction to accelerate development and reduce costs. They may build data centers and power plants outside Japan as well.

Japan is home to major data center operators such as NTT Data and SoftBank, and Blackstone has planned $30 billion in related investments in the country over the coming years. However, Japan's installed data center capacity still lags far behind. According to the International Data Center Authority, U.S. data centers consume 29.2 GW, accounting for 43% of global data center electricity use, while Japan consumes only 1.7 GW. As part of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's strategic investment plan, Japan aims to achieve 32.7 trillion yen (about $206 billion) in public and private investment in cloud and data center infrastructure by 2035.