237. Datacenters: "Let’s get Physical" with Quinbrook - Jul26

Gerard and Laurent first welcomed David Scaysbrook to the podcast in Episode 66, back in January 2022, for a conversation about the future of 24/7 power. Four years later, it felt like the right moment to reconnect and take stock of how profoundly the market has evolved.

Since then, Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners has continued to establish itself as one of the leading specialist investors in the energy transition, orchestrating and deploying billions of dollars of capital through project finance structures and platform companies. As of today, the firm has participated in more than $27 billion of transactions, developed or acquired over 240 projects, and built a portfolio exceeding 40 GW across the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia.

Our discussion traces Quinbrook's own transformation alongside that of the broader energy landscape. We revisit the firm's strategic exit from wind generation, marked by the sale of its Scout platform to Brookfield in 2023 for more than $1 billion, and explore how its focus has shifted toward utility-scale solar and long-duration energy storage across the United States and Australia.

More fundamentally, David explains how Quinbrook has moved beyond the era of single-technology investment funds. Instead of financing isolated generation assets, the firm now builds integrated, multi-technology platforms designed to solve specific customer problems. The objective is no longer simply to inject generic electrons into the grid, but to work backwards from the needs of large electricity consumers—particularly hyperscale datacenter operators—and develop bespoke energy solutions around them.

This philosophy is illustrated by Rowan, Quinbrook's datacenter development platform, which attracted a $1 billion co-investment from Blackstone. As hyperscalers race to deploy new computing capacity, speed has become the defining constraint. Waiting for the grid is no longer an option, making "bring your own power" an increasingly compelling proposition.

The conversation also explores how advances in software and long-duration energy storage are improving behind-the-meter performance, allowing energy infrastructure to become more resilient, flexible, and economically attractive.

Ultimately, David argues that we are witnessing a profound shift in thinking. In a world increasingly captivated by virtual technologies and digital intelligence, the greatest opportunities may lie in investing in the physical infrastructure that makes them all possible.

“Let’s get Physical”