DataVolt to Secure Non-Recourse Financing for Saudi AI Data Centres
DataVolt, the Saudi-backed developer and operator of renewable-powered AI data centres, expects to secure financing for all its facilities under construction in the kingdom “within six months,” chief executive Rajit Nanda told AGBI.
The company is pursuing non-recourse financing, where lenders are repaid primarily from the cash generated by an individual facility rather than from DataVolt’s broader balance sheet. The model is well-established in power and water infrastructure but remains uncommon for multi-tenant data centres, where lenders must assess multiple customer contracts and credit profiles.
A new asset class for infrastructure lenders
DataVolt’s Saudi pipeline is anchored by a flagship 1.5GW AI-focused data centre at Neom’s Oxagon industrial hub, part of a $5 billion investment commitment in the kingdom agreed in February 2025, with the first phase due online by 2028. A facility in Riyadh is also under development. The company did not disclose the combined project value or the quantum of debt it plans to raise.
The financing strategy has a tested precedent. In June, DataVolt reached financial close on up to $150 million in 12-year non-recourse debt for TAS-1, a 12MW data centre in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The facility, whose first 6MW phase is almost fully leased to cloud providers, telecoms operators, and payments companies, saw participation from the EBRD, DEG, Proparco, and the Opec Fund. The EBRD pegged total project costs at $250 million.
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“Our essence is essentially to convert the CapEx into the OpEx model,” Nanda said, describing the shift from large upfront outlays to recurring payments.
The approach could gain broader traction as global AI infrastructure spending strains corporate balance sheets. Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, and Oracle are expected to spend an estimated $750 billion on capex in 2026, equivalent to 38% of combined revenue according to S&P Global Ratings. Hyperscalers issued roughly $115 billion in debt in Q1 2026 alone, up from $70 billion for all of last year.
For DataVolt’s lenders, the business increasingly looks like an extension of infrastructure they already understand. “They have done fibre, they have done towers … It’s a new asset class for them,” Nanda said.
DataVolt is wholly owned by Vision Invest, the Saudi infrastructure investor chaired by former Acwa Power CEO Paddy Padmanathan, whose affiliates operate more than $95 billion in infrastructure assets—giving the data centre play a lineage lenders recognise.
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