东京——作为日本最大的电力生产商，JERA正与美国计算机巨头戴尔（Dell）以及英国的人工智能云服务提供商Rhaelm合作，在一座发电站旁边建设一座耗资150亿美元的数据中心。此举反映了日本加速推进人工智能（AI）基础设施建设的决心。
TOKYO -- Japan's largest power producer JERA is partnering with U.S. computer giant Dell and a U.K. artificial intelligence cloud provider to build a $15 billion data center next to a power station, as the East Asian country accelerates its AI infrastructure buildout.
这三家公司于周四签署了谅解备忘录，计划建设一座“自给自足型”的数据中心（即该数据中心所需的电力由自身发电设施提供，而非从电网获取）。这座功率为400兆瓦的数据中心将建在JERA位于千叶县（Chiba Prefecture）的燃气发电厂附近，其电力将来自该发电厂的剩余产能。该公司表示，这将是“日本规模最大的单一站点AI基础设施项目，也是亚洲规模最大的项目之一”。
The three companies signed a memorandum of understanding on Thursday and plan to deploy a "behind-the-meter" data center, where power is generated on-site rather than drawn from the grid. The 400-megawatt facility will be built next to JERA's gas-fired power plant in Chiba prefecture, drawing electricity from the facility's excess capacity, in what the companies described as the "largest single-site AI infrastructure deployment in Japan and one of the largest in Asia."
通过这个项目，各方旨在开发一种标准化的数据中心建设模式，以实现从液化天然气（LNG）采购、发电到AI设备采购及运营等整个价值链的快速、可扩展的运营。
Through the Chiba project, the companies aim to develop a standardized model for rapid, scalable data center deployment, covering the entire value chain from LNG procurement and power generation to AI equipment sourcing and operations.
JERA与Rhaelm计划在适合的场合将这一模式推广到其他发电厂，并表示：“我们的目标是到2030年代在日本实现多吉瓦级（multi-gigawatt）规模的AI基础设施部署，长期而言还计划在海外推广这一模式。”他们在声明中提到，千叶县数据中心预计将于2028年左右投入运营。美国资产管理公司Apollo Global Management将为Rhaelm的该项目提供融资支持。
JERA and Rhaelm, the U.K cloud provider, will then seek to replicate the model across its other power plants where applicable, "with the ambition of supporting multi-gigawatt-scale AI infrastructure capacity across Japan in the 2030s" and overseas in the long run, they said in a statement. Operations at the Chiba facility are expected to begin around 2028. American asset manager Apollo Global Management will provide financing to Rhaelm for the project.
这一合作正值日本寻求通过AI技术来强化制造业之际。根据日本370万亿日元（约合2.3万亿美元）的投资计划，其中102万亿日元被专门用于包括人工智能和半导体在内的领域。然而，全球范围内为满足不断增长的人工智能需求而建设的数据中心在电力供应方面面临着日益严峻的挑战：数据中心建设的激增给电力公司带来了巨大的压力，新设施往往需要等待长达十年才能获得电力供应。
The deal comes as Japan seeks to strengthen its manufacturing sector through AI as part of its new growth strategy Of its 370 trillion yen ($2.3 trillion) investment plan, 102 trillion yen has been earmarked for areas including physical AI and semiconductors. Yet data centers being built worldwide to meet rising AI demand face growing challenges in securing power. The surge in data center construction is overwhelming utilities with grid-connection requests, and new facilities can wait up to a decade for electricity supply.
表后数据中心正成为一种解决方案。谷歌正在美国得克萨斯州建设一座配套风能和太阳能发电厂的数据中心，而Meta和软银集团等企业则在设施旁边建设火电厂。
Behind-the-meter data centers are emerging as one solution. Google is building a data center in the U.S. state of Texas with integrated wind and solar power plants, while the likes of Meta and SoftBank Group are setting up thermal power plants alongside their facilities.
JERA全球首席执行官可儿行夫表示：“当今全球备受关注的一个话题是‘供电速度’，即能以多快速度向数据中心供电。”
"A topic attracting significant attention around the world today is 'speed to power'; how quickly power can be supplied [to data centers]," said Yukio Kani, global CEO of JERA.
可儿行夫表示，日本支撑大规模AI数据中心的基础设施链条“极其漫长且高度互联”，不仅涵盖设施本身，“还包括支撑设施的天然气管道、液化天然气接收站、液化天然气运输船，甚至包括从全球各地采购液化天然气。”他补充说，数据中心需要“全年365天、每天24小时安全稳定的电力供应”，而将整条链条标准化并作为单一系统进行管理，对于实现这一目标“至关重要”。
Kani said Japan's infrastructure chain supporting large-scale AI data centers is "extremely long and highly interconnected," spanning not only the facilities themselves, but "also the gas pipelines that support them, LNG receiving terminals, LNG carriers, and even the procurement of LNG from around the world." He added that data centers need "safe and stable power 24 hours a day, 365 days a year" and that standardizing the entire chain and managing it as a single system "is essential" in achieving that.