Blackstone to invest $1.2 billion in power generation facility in West Virginia

Nov 13 (Reuters) - Blackstone BX.N said on Thursday its unit would invest about $1.2 billion to build a power plant in West Virginia, as the asset manager steps up efforts to meet surging electricity demand from artificial intelligence and industrial growth.

Utilities and large investors have scaled up funding to build new power capacity as they seek to meet the growing demand from data centers.

The 600-megawatt combined-cycle natural gas plant, called Wolf Summit Energy project, in Harrison County will supply power to Old Dominion Electric Cooperative, which serves about 1.5 million residents across Virginia, Maryland and Delaware.

"Helping meet the rising demand for electricity from AI and other areas is among our highest conviction investment themes," said Bilal Khan, a senior managing director at Blackstone.

The company said last week's Final Investment Decision provides financing for the project, allowing it to commence construction.

The facility will use GE Vernova's GEV.N gas turbine.

The project adds to Blackstone's recent energy investments in Pennsylvania and Virginia totaling over 1,600 megawatts of new gas-fired capacity.