Prologis and Nvidia are partnering to potentially deploy containerized data centers at substation sites.

EPRI this week announced a collaboration with Prologis, Nvidia, and InfraPartners to study smaller-scale data centers designed for distributed inference.

The companies will assess the deployment of “micro” data centers – ranging from five-20MW – at or near utility substations with available grid capacity.

The collaboration aims to have at least five pilot sites in development across the US by the end of 2026, though further details weren’t shared.

Hoping to serve inferencing needs, the companies will explore how smaller, distributed sites can meet computing needs without straining the grid.

“AI is transforming every industry, and the energy system will need to continue to evolve to meet increasing demand,” said EPRI President and CEO Arshad Mansoor. “This collaboration with Prologis, Nvidia, InfraPartners, and the utility community highlights the type of innovative actions required to meet the moment. Using existing grid capacity to bring inference compute closer to where it’s needed - quickly and reliably - is a win for all.”

Founded in 1972, EPRI is an independent, non-profit energy research and development organization.

Prologis is a major real estate development and investment firm. Traditionally focused on industrial and logistics real estate, the firm has a growing data center arm.

“As energy demand grows, we need infrastructure solutions that support grid reliability and make better use of what’s already built,” said Parag Soni, senior vice president and global head of utility strategy and engagement at Prologis. “This collaboration is about using our development and energy expertise to help deliver smarter, more flexible infrastructure right where it’s needed.”

InfraPartners delivers turnkey prefabricated data center solutions for AI workloads, serving customers focused on sovereign AI. It has previously partnered with JLL and is known to be working with Nscale.

“AI is becoming the real-time engine of growth for the modern economy, and it demands a new kind of digital infrastructure,” added Harqs Singh, chief technology officer at InfraPartners. “By pairing InfraPartners’ AI data center solutions with EPRI’s technical leadership, Nvidia’s platforms, and Prologis’ national footprint, we’re enabling rapid deployment of AI nodes where they’re needed most. Together, we’re building the foundation for the next decade of intelligent infrastructure.”