PowerBank signs modular data centre development agreement

Key Takeaways:

• PowerBank and Nodiac have signed a definitive Joint Development Agreement to build modular, containerized data centers directly at existing solar and battery storage stations.
• The distributed model deploys compact 1 MW to 20 MW computing blocks to bypass multi-year utility transmission queues and accelerate speed-to-power timelines for artificial intelligence developers.
• The collaboration taps into a rapidly growing segment of the global modular infrastructure market, which is projected to reach up to $113.6 billion by 2030.

The Whole Story:

PowerBank Corporation announced the execution of a Joint Development Agreement (JDA) with Nodiac Development to deploy modular, containerized data centers directly alongside its existing North American clean energy assets. Building on a preliminary letter of intent signed in April, the binding agreement establishes a commercial framework to bypass congested regional transmission grids by co-locating scalable 1 MW to 20 MW digital compute units at distribution-level interconnection points where generation, land, and zoning approvals are already secured.

The partnership launches during a period of unprecedented expansion in continental electricity consumption, largely propelled by artificial intelligence workloads. In Canada, the Ontario Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) forecasts provincial electricity demand to surge 75% by 2050, growing from 151 terawatt-hours in 2025 to 263 terawatt-hours, with energy-intensive data centers emerging as primary drivers expected to command roughly 13% of all new demand by 2035. Similarly, the International Energy Agency projects that data center power consumption in the United States will spike roughly 130% by 2030, accounting for nearly half of total American demand growth. By establishing a direct physical link between generation and compute, the partners intend to bring specialized AI infrastructure online within months rather than the years typically required for traditional hyperscale substation builds.

The operational strategy leverages PowerBank’s expansive active asset base and development pipeline, which includes more than 100 MW of built renewable capacity and a broader development backlog exceeding 1 GW of solar and Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) across Canada and the United States. Nodiac will deploy its repeatable, modular data center architectures on a site-by-site basis, while the JDA outlines a standardized mechanism for the ongoing allocation of operational cash flows. This co-location model capitalizes on the rapidly growing global modular data center market, which expanded to a valuation of approximately $41.2 billion in 2024 and is on track to reach between $106.5 billion and $113.6 billion by 2030, with North American edge-computing demands capturing a dominant 41% share of global market revenue.

“By bringing generation and compute together at the same site, we can deliver speed-to-power for the AI industry while unlocking durable new value from infrastructure we already own,” said Dr. Richard Lu, Chief Executive Officer of PowerBank Corporation, noting that the initiative transforms traditional green generation assets into high-yield digital foundations. Nodiac CEO Robert Sher emphasized that access to immediate power remains the single tightest constraint in modern AI expansion, making PowerBank’s permitted, interconnected solar and storage portfolio a highly competitive shortcut to scaling up production-ready cloud layers safely and sustainably.