Sapphire and Anax Partner to Power Modular Data Centers with Gas Pipeline Pressure
March 31, 2026
In an innovative move to address the dual challenges of power scarcity and thermal management in the digital infrastructure sector, two power technology firms have unveiled a partnership to deploy modular data centers powered by excess pressure from natural gas pipelines. This collaboration between California-based Sapphire Technologies and New Jersey’s Anax Power aims to turn a widely overlooked energy source into emission-free electricity and cooling, potentially offering a new model for distributed, sustainable data center deployment.
Under the agreement, Sapphire Technologies will supply its FreeSpin In-line Turboexpander, a device that captures energy typically wasted during pressure reduction processes in gas transmission pipelines. Anax Power will integrate this technology into purpose-built, colocated data center modules. The system is designed to convert the recovered pressure energy directly into both electricity and high-capacity cooling for on-site servers, creating a self-contained power and thermal management solution. The first such facility, which will be constructed and operated by Anax, could be commissioned as early as late this year.
The companies plan to site these modular data centers adjacent to existing pressure regulating stations within the extensive U.S. natural gas transmission network. They estimate that each location can become operational within months. A typical installation is projected to deliver up to 3 megawatts of electricity alongside cooling capacity of up to 35 million BTU. This scale of output is intended to support edge AI inference workloads, modular high-performance computing deployments, and distributed cloud infrastructure. The inaugural site is slated to be occupied by Bitcoin miner Magellen Scientific.
Industry executives highlighted the strategic importance of the technology. “Data centers face continued challenges with power availability and thermal management,” said Freddie Sarhan, CEO of Sapphire Technologies. “This project demonstrates how pressure energy recovery delivers both electricity and cooling capacity in a single system, supporting data center growth through smarter infrastructure design.”
Michael Longo, CEO of Anax Power, emphasized the untapped potential of the energy source and the business model. “Pressure energy is one of the most overlooked sources of emission-free power,” Longo stated. “Our partnership represents a first-of-its-kind integration of turboexpander generation with data center infrastructure… Anax provides pipeline operators a no-risk development model – we finance, build, and operate the system – while monetizing the energy through high-value digital infrastructure services.”
The initiative signals a growing trend of seeking unconventional, behind-the-meter power solutions for data centers, particularly for modular and distributed deployments. If successfully scaled, it could provide a template for locating compute capacity near abundant, non-combustion energy sources, improving energy redundancy and potentially achieving industry-leading power usage effectiveness (PUE) metrics.
Source: datacenterdynamics
