Power company Jera, Dell Technologies, and sovereign AI provider Rhaelm have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to develop AI infrastructure at a "national scale" in Japan.

Under the MoU, the three companies are developing a standardized framework for building AI infrastructure - from power and electrical infrastructure to cooling and AI compute - and will start with a behind-the-meter project in Chiba that will be backed by Apollo Global Management.

Dell will provide standardized rack-scale AI infrastructure, while Rhaelm will offer its data center development and delivery expertise, with energy provided by Jera's capabilities across LNG procurement, shipping, import and regasification, and power generation.

In Chiba, the project will be developed by Rhaelm and Jera at the latter's Chiba Thermal Power Station, located at 2-1377 Soga-cho, Chuo-ku, Chiba.

The data center will have a power capacity of up to 400MW, and will operate on a behind-the-meter basis. Operations are targeted to begin in or around 2028. An estimated $15 billion will be invested in the project across all phases of development, including land, power infrastructure, construction, and AI compute.

The liquid natural gas-powered Chiba station has a total maximum output of 4.38GW.

The companies will also look at other Jera sites for similar deployments, of which the company has more than 20, aiming to have a multi-gigawatt footprint across Japan in the 2030s.

Yukio Kani, global CEO and chair of Jera, said: "Jera is uniquely positioned to power Japan’s AI ambitions. We already generate one third of Japan’s electricity and supply nearly all of the power consumed in the Tokyo metropolitan area, with capabilities spanning the full LNG value chain, from fuel procurement, shipping, receiving terminals and gas infrastructure through to downstream power generation and reliable operations, complemented by a growing renewable energy portfolio."

Bradd Lewis, CEO & chief revenue officer, Rhaelm, added: "Rhaelm was built to solve exactly this kind of challenge, taking stranded power capacity and turning it into sovereign AI infrastructure. By co-locating at Jera's Chiba station and deploying the Dell AI Factory as our compute standard, we can deliver a 400MW facility years ahead of a conventional grid-connected timeline. Jera's behind-the-meter power and site access are the foundation, and our role is to bring the execution capability and capital to build on it, with the end goal of replicating that model across Japan at the scale the country's AI ambitions demand."

Rhaelm is an AI cloud provider headquartered in London and with operations in Europe and Asia Pacific, ultimately targeting a gigawatt-scale platform. According to its website, it has a presence in Portugal, the UK, Poland, Japan, South Korea, and Australia. The company was previously known as Sovereign AI, rebranding to Rhaelm in September.