Datacenter operators worried about securing enough energy supplies should turn to on-site generation such as gas turbines in the short term, while lon

Energy exec punts datacenter power options out to long term

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2024-10-26 00:00:10

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.