美国电力公司（American Electric Power Co.）已签署协议，从Mainspring Energy Inc.采购最多1.6吉瓦的小型发电机，以支持人工智能热潮，该协议在未来八年内可能价值超过40亿美元。
American Electric Power Co. has signed an agreement to buy up to 1.6 gigawatts of small generators from Mainspring Energy Inc. to help power the artificial intelligence boom, in a deal that could amount to more than $4 billion over the next eight years.
Mainspring将在2027年安装首批190兆瓦的设备，AEP有权在2034年前每年再订购另外200兆瓦，该公司总部位于硅谷的首席执行官汤姆·莱恩巴格（Tom Linebarger）在接受采访时表示。他称，协议将按批次定价。“在协议期间，我们预计这将代表超过40亿美元的价值，”Mainspring在一份声明中表示。
Mainspring will install the first 190 megawatts in 2027 and AEP has an option to order another 200 megawatts a year through 2034, the Silicon Valley-based supplier’s chief executive officer, Tom Linebarger, said in an interview. The deal will be priced with each tranche, he said. “Over the course of the agreement, we expect this to represent a value of over $4 billion,” Mainspring said in a statement.
像AEP这样的美国电力供应商因美国数据中心的大规模建设以支持人工智能而面临用电需求的急剧增长。由于供应链瓶颈，公用事业公司正转向更灵活的供应商以满足需求。其好处在于安装更快、位置更具灵活性。AEP曾在2024年与Bloom Energy Corp.签署过类似协议。
US power providers like AEP have been struck by an urgent increase in usage thanks to the massive buildout of data centers in the US to enable AI. Faced with bottlenecks through the supply chain, utilities are turning to nimbler suppliers to meet demand. The benefit is speedier installations and more flexibility on location. AEP cut a similar deal in 2024 with Bloom Energy Corp.
“供电速度很重要，因此Mainspring可以加快生产，并在明年尽早开始交付设备，”AEP首席商业官格雷格·霍尔（Greg Hall）在另一次采访中表示。他拒绝讨论财务条款，但表示AEP在新电力发电方面的更广泛投资力度值得关注。
“Speed to power is important, so Mainspring can ramp up and start delivering equipment as early as next year,” AEP Chief Commercial Officer Greg Hall said in a separate interview. He declined to discuss financial terms, but said the scale of the utility’s broader push to invest in new electricity generation is notable.
“这对我来说是迄今为止在系统中增加发电容量最快的一次，我在这家公司已工作三十年，”他说。
“This is by far the fasted addition of generation to our systems that I’ve been a part of,” said the veteran of three decades at AEP.
霍尔表示，AEP尚未决定Mainspring的设备具体安装位置，也不确定它们是否会立即接入区域电网，或直接设在数据中心。
The utility hasn’t decided yet where to place Mainspring’s units, nor whether they’ll be connected to a regional grid immediately or located at a data center, Hall said.
Mainspring的莱恩巴格表示，该公司的模块化单元大小约与一个可停放在停车位的集装箱相当，正好提供这种多功能性。这些单元可以轻松地从为数据中心供电转移到为可再生能源发电机提供备用电力，或缓解其他电网瓶颈。
Mainspring’s Linebarger said the firm’s modular units, which are about the same size as a shipping container that can fit in a parking spot, offer precisely that kind of versatility. They can easily be moved from supplying data centers to backing up renewable energy generators or alleviating other grid bottlenecks.
Mainspring 专利的线性发电机还能比传统设备产生更低的排放，Linebarger 表示。每台 250 千瓦的机组可以使用天然气运行 — — 这很可能是 AEP 首选的燃料 — — 但也可以使用丙烷，最终还能使用氢气，他说。
Mainspring’s patented linear generators also produce less emissions than traditional equipment, Linebarger said. Each 250-kilowatt unit can run on natural gas — likely AEP’s fuel of choice to start with — but can also use propane, and eventually hydrogen, he said.
该公司另外还筹集了 2.5 亿美元的融资，Linebarger 表示。去年第二季度末，Mainspring 已累计融资 7.26 亿美元，彭博社编制的数据显示。
The company has separately raised another $250 million in financing, Linebarger said. At the end of the second quarter last year, Mainspring had raised a total of $726 million, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.