Growth trends such as low-carbon grids and AI boost key infrastructure — how to invest

Digitalisation, AI, 5G mobile networks, and the shift to a low-carbon grid are reshaping economies and industries, driving surging demand for critical infrastructure: essential assets powering the digital economy, energy security, and future connectivity. As cloud services and generative AI take off, the supporting infrastructure must scale up just as fast. Data centres, ultra-low latency networks, and flexible energy sources are now indispensable, with demand for data centres projected to grow more than 30% annually until 2030.

The amount of power consumed per rack (an open-frame structure holding servers) in a data centre or server room is climbing rapidly, AI workloads are soaring and, as a result, global electricity use is set to triple within the decade. Infrastructure companies stand to benefit, offering a compelling opportunity for longer-term investors.

Unlike volatile listed technology stocks, the assets enabling this shift often come with long-term contracts, inflation-linked cash flows, and strong downside protection, offering both resilience and exposure to structural growth. We have identified three unlisted assets in Pantheon Infrastructure’s (LSE: PINT) portfolio that capture these trends.

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Dialling up profits

Vertical Bridge is the largest privately owned operator of wireless towers in the United States, with a portfolio of more than 17,000 towers. Backed by sector-specialist DigitalBridge, the company has scaled up rapidly through acquisitions and new construction.

The rollout of 5G is accelerating demand for dense, low-latency mobile infrastructure. With major American carriers investing heavily in next-generation networks, Vertical Bridge is well-positioned to benefit, supported by long leases, high-quality tenants, and predictable cash flows.

CyrusOne operates more than 50 data centres across North America and Europe, serving large enterprise customers and cloud service providers. These data centres are essential to the digital economy, supporting everything from AI and cloud computing to video streaming and online services.

The investment case for data centres has only strengthened with the surge in AI and the rapid growth in data consumption. CyrusOne benefits from long-term contracts, built-in price rises, and a high-quality customer base, providing defensive characteristics alongside exposure to structural growth. As digital transformation accelerates, demand for data infrastructure is likely to remain strong.

As one of North America’s largest independent power producers, Calpine operates approximately 27 gigawatts (GW) of capacity, primarily from gas-fired plants, complemented by nearly 800 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy. It plays a vital role in delivering reliable baseload power while supporting the transition to a lower-carbon grid.

With energy security and the reliability of the grid becoming increasingly important, as evidenced by the blackout in Spain and Portugal, Calpine’s flexible generation capacity is in high demand. The company also has an active pipeline of solar and battery-storage projects. Constellation Energy has announced that it is to acquire Calpine in a cash and equity deal.

We will retain residual exposure to the combined entity for two years after the deal completes in early 2026. Together, Constellation and Calpine will have 60 gigawatts of capacity from zero- and low-emission sources, including nuclear, natural gas, geothermal, hydro, wind, solar, co-generation and battery storage

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