[Spread eepBp if you like it]. Dubai-based digital assets infrastructure company Hodler Investments and Chinese clean energy company Golden Concord Group (GCL) have agreed to jointly invest in
Dubai-based digital assets infrastructure company Hodler Investments and Chinese clean energy company Golden Concord Group (GCL) have agreed to jointly invest in an off-grid energy infrastructure project in Ethiopia to power data centres that support high-demand applications, including artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain.
The project will leverage GCL’s natural gas concessions in Ethiopia, allowing it to monetise gas that can’t be used due to the lack of infrastructure to convert it to LNG for export.
In April 2024 GCL signed two Petroleum Production Sharing Agreements (PPSA) with the Ethiopian government to develop gas resources in the Ogaden Basin, an area of Huwan bordering Somalia that is believed to hold significant reserves of crude oil and natural gas.
UAE Hodler Investments, a UAE based investment company headquartered in the Dubai, which includes in its portfolio energy, AI, and digital asset mining startups such as PermianChain, Brox Equity, NEXGEN, and others; and GCL Energy Investment, subsidiary of GCL Group (Golden Concord Group), a leading Chinese integrated energy service provider that specializes in clean energy and new energy, with diversified development of related industries, have partnered to develop a distributed energy infrastructure project to power next generation distributed compute cluster data centers that are hosting AI, Blockchain and other applications.
As per the Memorandum of Understanding, both Hodler Investments and Golden Concord Group will co-invest in feasible and suitable energy projects applying energy optimization and sustainable energy efficient technologies. Golden Concord Group will supply critical energy infrastructure that will monetize under-utilized energy in Ethiopia, with the aim of hosting global data center operators, while reducing carbon emissions.
Earlier in 2024, Ethiopia signed an agreement to develop infrastructure for data mining and AI, as it becomes a leading destination for Bitcoin mining. This is in line with Ethiopia’s “Digital Transformation Strategy 2025. In 2022 the Ethiopian datacenter market size was valued at $95 million and is expected to reach $226 million by 2028.
Ethiopia has about 5,200 MW of installed generation capacity, with around 90% of it coming from hydropower and the remaining 10% from wind and thermal sources.
The Ethiopian datacenter market size was valued at USD 95 million in 2022 and is expected to reach USD 226 million by 2028, growing at a CAGR of 15.54% during the forecast period.
Mohamed El Masri, Managing Director of HOLDER INVESTMENTS, stated, “Our strategic partnership with GCL Group will accelerate our mission to build distributed energy infrastructure to power compute clusters that optimize wasted energy resources regionally. It will offer equitable energy infrastructure that strengthens the African position for integrating data mining systems that support a sovereign digital economy.”
WANG Dong, Chief Executive Officer of GCL Energy Investment added, “Our partnership with HOLDER INVESTMENTS aims to solve various challenges facing the energy sector in Ethiopia. We believe that modern technology coupled with smart capital can accelerate decarbonization and address the renewable funding gap.”
The strategic partnership with GCL Energy comes after HODLER INVESTMENTS has announced its ongoing plans for a $500 million Digital Energy Infrastructure (DEI) Fund with the participation of UAE based GEWAN holding. The DEI will be established as a closed-ended Fund, subject to compliance and regulatory approvals. The DEI Fund has already secured soft commitments from lead investors and in-kind contributions in addition to offtake partners seeking energy and connectivity for A.I. and digital asset mining operations.
