Novva signs framework deal for 3.17 GW of Argentine renewable projects

Why it matters

AI infrastructure is increasingly constrained by electricity. Liu is trying to control renewable development upstream, but Novva's 3.17 GW only matters if it becomes permitted, financed power.

Steven Liu, founder and CEO of Novva Group, has agreed under a binding framework to acquire 3.17 GW of renewable-energy projects in Argentina from German developer ABO Energy. Novva's announcement and ABO Energy's account date the Paris signing to September 15th. A PR Newswire release published September 16th says the agreement was signed that day, leaving a one-day discrepancy across the companies' releases.

The precise legal status matters. ABO Energy describes the assets as projects in development and says a share-purchase agreement is expected after confirmatory due diligence over the next few months. The 3.17 GW figure represents prospective wind and solar capacity. It is not operating generation that Novva can immediately direct toward data centers.

Liu lists himself as Novva's chairman and founder since January 2025. In roughly 20 months, he has positioned Novva around a straightforward constraint facing AI infrastructure: developers can secure land, chips and capital faster than power systems can add dependable generation and grid connections. His response is to assemble energy projects upstream, then use Novva's financing and development capabilities to move them toward construction alongside data-center sites, powered land and powered shells.

A development pipeline under due diligence

The releases provide one large headline number and few of the variables needed to value it. Novva and ABO Energy have not identified the individual Argentine projects, their locations, technology mix, grid status, permit milestones or expected operating dates. The purchase price and financing structure are also outside the announcement.

Those details will determine whether the portfolio becomes a meaningful supply base or remains a collection of development rights. Renewable projects can spend years moving through land agreements, environmental approvals, interconnection studies, financing and construction. A gigawatt at an early development stage carries a different risk and capital requirement from a permitted project with a grid connection and contracted buyer.

ABO Energy's language keeps that distinction clear. The developer expects the sale to be finalized through a definitive share-purchase agreement after due diligence. Novva's announcement calls the framework binding and describes the acquisition as upcoming. Liu has secured a path to a substantial pipeline, while ownership and delivery remain ahead.

For ABO Energy, the agreement advances a strategy of concentrating on core markets. Karsten Schlageter, the managing director who signed with Liu, established EnBW's renewable-energy business in Peru before joining ABO Energy in 2013.

Liu is buying upstream of the data center

The Argentine agreement follows two deals that show how Liu is assembling the strategy market by market. On June 19th, Novva signed a definitive agreement for a 120 MWp solar project in the Philippines. Novva says construction is scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2027, with commercial operation targeted for 2028.

Three days later, Novva agreed to acquire three Colombian solar projects from ABO Energy with a combined capacity of 37.8 MWac. Novva describes those projects as advanced-stage assets with grid approvals and long-term land leases, targeting commercial operation in early 2028.

Argentina is a much larger step. Its stated capacity is more than 80 times the Colombian portfolio's, although the development stages may differ considerably. The sequence also shows why Novva has returned to ABO Energy: Liu is using an established developer's regional pipeline to expand faster than Novva could by originating every project itself.

Novva describes its model as an energy investment bank for the AI era. Its corporate materials say Novva combines project origination, structured financing, engineering supervision, construction, commissioning and long-term operations. Novva lists teams in Singapore, London, Paris, Warsaw, Bogota, Buenos Aires, Manila and Ulaanbaatar.

Liu's core thesis is that computing growth is changing where infrastructure investors need to start. In Novva's announcement, he said that "computing demand reshapes global energy requirements." That logic pushes Novva beyond developing a data-center building and securing a utility contract. Liu wants Novva involved where the power assets are financed and built.

The timing follows the load. The International Energy Agency's April 2026 analysis estimated that global data-center electricity consumption grew 17% in 2025, while consumption from AI-focused facilities rose 50%. The IEA projects data-center demand rising from about 485 TWh in 2025 to roughly 950 TWh in 2030. It also expects renewables to supply close to half of the additional electricity required.

That demand creates an opening for developers able to package generation, grid access, storage and data-center-ready sites. It also creates room for inflated pipeline numbers, because proposed capacity is much easier to announce than operating power is to deliver.

The execution test starts after the signing

Liu has moved Novva quickly across Latin America and Southeast Asia, but the Argentine framework will test the full model he is selling. Moving 3.17 GW through due diligence and into a definitive acquisition will require capital, local development expertise and a credible view of which projects can secure permits and grid access.

The next layer is commercial. Renewable generation alone does not create data-center infrastructure. Novva will need to match the projects with transmission capacity, storage or other balancing resources, dependable customer demand and financing terms that survive long construction timelines. AI data centers require continuous electricity, while wind and solar output varies. The IEA has identified storage and grid flexibility as critical parts of serving the rapid power swings associated with AI workloads.

Novva's recent agreements give Liu a larger set of assets from which to build that package. They do not yet establish operating scale. The Argentine transaction becomes consequential when Novva converts selected projects into permitted, financed capacity tied to real infrastructure customers.

Liu is making that conversion the center of Novva's identity. The Paris agreement gives him 3.17 GW of potential supply to work with, subject to due diligence and a definitive purchase. It also gives investors and prospective customers a clear benchmark for judging Novva: how much of the announced pipeline reaches construction, on what timeline and with whose capital.