Energy exec punts datacenter power options out to long term

Datacenter operators worried about securing enough energy supplies should turn to on-site generation such as gas turbines in the short term, while longer-term answers may include sources like small nuclear reactors – but there is no catch-all silver bullet solution.

Schneider Electric's veep of Innovation and Datacenter, Steven Carlini, shared his thoughts on the choices facing bit barn developers and operators in the short, medium, and long-term scenarios in a posting on the company site.

Demand for extra datacenter capacity is currently outstripping supply, especially in regions such as Europe, but developers face challenges in securing sufficient power and appropriate land for building new facilities.

Meanwhile, AI requirements are pushing the deployment of more powerful and energy-guzzling infrastructure in existing facilities as well, with US energy utilities, in particular, being warned that power use by bit barns is forecast to outstrip supply within the next few years.

In the short term, on-site deployments of gas-powered turbines could help to cover any shortfall in supply from the electricity grid, Carlini says, but he cautions that natural gas providers currently do not have to meet the same reliability standards as the electric grid.

This is something that is already happening, with gas pipeline companies in the US revealing they were in talks with some datacenter operators to supply them with large quantities of natural gas earlier this year.

Other short-term options are on-site generation using solar and wind with battery stabilization, or using fuel cells to provide electricity. The latter is also being implemented by various bit barn operators, with Amazon announcing plans last year to transition some of its Oregon facilities over to fuel cells as it was unable to source the electricity supply it needed.

For the medium and long term, Carlini appears focused on nuclear generation for datacenter operators looking to ensure enough supply. He mentions Microsoft partnering with Constellation Energy on a deal to help restart a unit of the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania, as well as Amazon buying up a datacenter complex adjacent to a nuclear power plant in the same state.

Longer term, Carlini favors small modular reactors (SMRs), claiming that these are "safe, reliable, efficient ... and run on used, discarded uranium that has been refurbished," with the caveat that SMRs still need to go through testing and regulatory approval.

In fact, there has been a wave of interest in SMRs recently, with the most recent announcement being Amazon handing half a billion dollars to three companies to develop SMRs to provide power in Virginia and Washington, with production not expected until the 2030s.

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This highlights the fact that SMRs are basically not ready yet, and any datacenter operator would be wise to avoid sinking money into them right now, unless they have pockets as deep as Amazon.

Some have questioned how sensible it is to use SMRs, with a report from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) claiming that the miniature reactors are "still too expensive, too slow to build, and too risky to play a significant role in transitioning away from fossil fuels."

The institute concluded that all the time, energy, and money being lavished on developing SMRs is actually taking resources away from investment in renewable energy sources.

But Carlini says that no single technology is a "silver bullet" solution, and future datacenter energy needs are likely to be met by power from multiple sources.

"I predict we will see ecosystems emerge of prime power sources where the simple electric grid as the source morphs into a complex ecosystem of power systems including electric utilities, natural gas utilities, on-site natural gas turbines, on-site fuel cells, on-site or adjacent wind and solar, adjacent nuclear and on-site or adjacent SMRs," he states.

So, a bit of everything, then.

And all this complexity will need to be carefully monitored and controlled to ensure the power continues to flow seamlessly. Naturally, such control systems will be developed by Schneider, Carlini says, but promotional aspects aside, there are some interesting points there as the grid continues to take strain. ®