JPMorgan is leading a $5 billion debt financing project for the construction of Volta's AI data center.

      JPMorgan has initiated discussions with lenders regarding a $5 billion debt package intended to finance the development of AI data centers by Volta Infra Holdings, shortly after the company, which is just seven months old, secured $300 million at a valuation of $2.4 billion. The company's initial significant site is a 121-megawatt campus in Norway, which is leased from bitcoin miner Bitdeer.

      The bank has started engaging lenders for this $5 billion financing effort to support Volta Infra Holdings' AI data center expansion, as per sources familiar with the matter, although neither company has provided comments.

      Founded earlier this year by Ricard Boada and Sofia Gumuzio, both former executives from Brookfield’s infrastructure division, Volta operates from locations in London, Palo Alto, and New York and has been moving unusually quickly. The company recently raised $300 million this month, with investment from Andreessen Horowitz, Altimeter, Nvidia, and Michael Dell, achieving a valuation of $2.4 billion.

      Volta's primary customer, Anthropic, secured a six-year, $10 billion contract for computing capacity just days after the company emerged from stealth mode.

      The structure itself is located in Norway. Volta is leasing Bitdeer’s Tydal campus, which has 121 megawatts of IT capacity powered by local hydropower and features dual grid connections, utilizing Nvidia’s Vera Rubin systems.

      The terms of the lease bring an intriguing aspect to the deal. Bitdeer estimates that the agreement will yield around $4.7 billion in contracted revenue over a 16-year period, which could extend to $8 billion, while the tenant holds the option to terminate the lease after ten years.

      This raises a mathematical inconsistency. A six-year customer contract exists beneath a commitment that Volta cannot exit for a decade, which is a critical point for any lender to consider.

      Additionally, there is another $5 billion involved in this scenario. Earlier in August, Volta announced a non-dilutive infrastructure program of this exact amount in partnership with Spanish asset manager Azora, but it remains unclear if JPMorgan is syndicating this or if it pertains to a separate funding round.

      Leasing from a bitcoin miner has become commonplace. Anthropic also entered into a separate $9.1 billion, 20-year agreement with Riot Platforms, another miner that has adapted its operations for AI.

      The scale of funding in this domain is significant, with companies borrowing approximately $600 billion for data centers and AI since last year, against a projected buildout cost of nearly $5 trillion by 2030.

      Europe continues to provide the real estate while failing to retain the tenants. Anthropic’s $45 billion Nscale agreement relocates a flagship company from London to West Virginia, while this arrangement involves an American firm’s models running on Norwegian resources.

      Thus, the first construction funded by this package will be situated in a Norwegian valley, owned by a bitcoin miner, leased by a relatively young startup, and utilized by a company based in San Francisco.