listen to article
This voice is automatically generated. Please let us know if you have any feedback.
The Electric Power Research Institute on Tuesday announced an effort to “explore how data centers can support the power grid, enable better asset utilization, and support the transition to clean energy.”
On the technology side, founding members of the “DCFlex” project include Google, Meta, NVIDIA, Compass Datacenters, and QTS Data Centers. Energy participants include Constellation Energy, Duke Energy, Electric Reliability Council of Texas, New York Power Authority, NRG Energy, Pacific Gas and Electric, PJM Interconnection, Portland General Electric, Southern Co. and Vistra.
“We continue to collaborate with our industry peers and utilities to advance new opportunities in digital infrastructure. Initiatives like EPRI’s DCFlex initiative are critical to these cross-industry efforts.” said Bryce Dalley, Director of Commercial Energy Supply at Meta.
After nearly 20 years of stagnant electricity load growth, demand is increasing due to industrial onshoring, electrification, and the introduction of artificial intelligence. According to EPRI, data centers could consume up to 9% of the U.S.’s annual electricity generation by 2030, up from 4% today.
“Flexible data center design and operations minimize costs, reduce carbon emissions, and improve system reliability,” Arshad Mansour, president and CEO of EPRI, said in a statement. “This is an important strategy for accelerating AI development and realizing its benefits while increasing AI efficiency.”
DCFlex will “coordinate real-world flexibility demonstrations” between data centers and power markets, creating a “reference architecture and sharing that will enable widespread adoption of flexible operations that will benefit all power consumers.” and learning,” the nonprofit Energy Research Group said.
Starting in the first half of next year, the initiative will introduce five to 10 “flexibility hubs” that can demonstrate “innovative data center and power delivery strategies,” EPRI said. The project could last until 2027.
“The DCFlex initiative is another example of how industry leaders can leverage data centers as flexible resources on the grid to handle peak loads,” said Mark, head of global business development and strategy for energy at NVIDIA. Spieler said.
“New power demand from AI-driven data centers presents significant potential for all California customers,” said PG&E Corp. CEO Patti Poppe. “DCFlex is exactly the collaboration we need to ensure we meet this demand in a way that provides clean, affordable and reliable energy for everyone.”
