May 18 (Reuters) - Ford Motor's ( F ) energy unit said on Monday it has signed a five-year deal to supply up to 20 gigawatt-hours of storage capacity to renewable power developer EDF.

Under the deal, EDF can procure up to 4 GWh of DC Block battery energy storage systems (BESS) annually from the carmaker's unit, Ford Energy.

Ford Motor's ( F ) shares were up about 3.6% in premarket trading.

Data centers are increasingly turning to backup power systems as a surge in electricity demand - driven by soaring use of artificial intelligence services - strains the energy infrastructure in the United States.

Automakers are also looking to cash in on the boom by repurposing infrastructure built for electric-vehicle batteries to develop energy storage systems.

Following a $19.5-billion writedown on its electric vehicle ​programs last year, Ford announced it would launch an energy storage business, utilizing plant space in Kentucky that was previously meant ​to produce batteries for EVs.

Deliveries under the agreement with EDF are expected to begin in 2028, the companies said on Monday.

EDF builds and operates low-carbon energy production facilities as well as flexible power ​and electricity transmission solutions in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.