Feb 26 (Reuters) - NRG Energy NRG.N beat Wall Street estimates for fourth-quarter adjusted profit on Wednesday, helped by higher demand for power and lower fuel costs, and unveiled its bets to capitalize on demand from data centers.

Shares of the company rose 6.6% to $109.23 in premarket trading.

Power companies are benefiting from rising electricity usage, mainly from energy-guzzling data centers needed to scale Big Tech's artificial intelligence $(AI)$ technologies.

NRG said it has signed a project development agreement on Wednesday with power equipment maker GE Vernova GEV.N and construction company Kiewit's subsidiary, TIC, to develop up to 5.4 gigawatts (GW) of new natural gas projects.

"Growing demand for electricity due to GenAI and the buildup of data centers means we need to form new, innovative partnerships to quickly increase America’s dispatchable generation," said Robert Gaudette, president of NRG's business and wholesale operations.

The company also signed Letters of Intent (LOIs) with two data center developers, PowLan and Menlo Equities, for power targets of 500 megawatt (MW) and 300 MW respectively in the initial phase, with work expected to start in 2026.

The power provider also said it was looking at negotiating with several data center companies for power contracts of about 7.5 gigawatts (GW).

NRG's fuel costs fell marginally to $4.89 billion in the fourth-quarter compared with a year ago.

But quarterly adjusted core earnings at its Texas business unit, the largest contributor to profit, fell 14.4% to $327 million from a year ago, due to warmer winter weather and extended planned maintenance.

The company reaffirmed its 2025 adjusted profit forecast of $6.75 per share to $7.75 per share. Analysts estimated a profit of $7.19 per share, according to data compiled by LSEG.

The Houston, Texas-based utility posted an adjusted profit of $1.56 per share in the fourth-quarter, beating analysts' estimates of $1.29 per share.

(Reporting by Pooja Menon in Bengaluru; Editing by Sahal Muhammed)

((Pooja.Menon@thomsonreuters.com;))