SLB, Liberty Energy target AI data center market

(WO) — SLB and Liberty Energy have agreed to form a strategic alliance to provide modular infrastructure and integrated power generation solutions for AI-driven data center projects worldwide, expanding both companies' roles in the rapidly growing digital infrastructure market. 

The planned alliance will combine SLB's modular infrastructure and project execution capabilities with Liberty's modular power generation systems and behind-the-meter power management technology to accelerate deployment of new data center capacity.

The companies said growing demand for artificial intelligence and high-performance computing is driving rapid expansion of data center construction, while developers increasingly seek power solutions that can be deployed independently of traditional grid connections.

"The bottleneck in AI infrastructure is no longer just compute. It is the ability to deliver infrastructure and power on the timelines the market now demands," said Gavin Rennick, president of SLB's New Energy and Industrial business. "By bringing together complementary infrastructure and power capabilities, we will help developers accelerate deployment of new data center capacity."

Under the agreement, SLB will provide prefabricated modular infrastructure, project execution expertise and global market reach, while Liberty will supply modular power generation systems, behind-the-meter intelligent power controls and operational expertise.

Ron Gusek, Liberty Energy's chief executive officer, said the growing scale of AI infrastructure is reshaping how energy systems are designed and deployed.

"The scale and complexity of AI energy infrastructure is fundamentally changing how power systems are built and deployed," Gusek said. "Building on our long-standing relationship with SLB, we are excited to bring power solutions that address immediate capacity constraints while supporting the next generation of energy systems."

In addition to delivering infrastructure and power solutions, the companies plan to collaborate on technologies designed to improve the efficiency, flexibility and environmental performance of future data center energy systems, including hybrid power systems, digital energy management and advanced power architectures.

SLB said it has shipped more than 1.3 GW of prefabricated modular infrastructure for data center projects since April 2024 and expects cumulative deliveries to exceed 2 GW globally by the end of 2026. Liberty plans to deploy approximately 3 GW of power projects by 2029.

The partnership builds on the companies' long-standing relationship following SLB's 2020 sale of its North American hydraulic fracturing business to Liberty and reflects a broader trend of oilfield service companies applying their expertise in large-scale energy infrastructure to support AI-driven data center growth.