pv magazine
Summary
In Texas, a new kind of reliability standard is reshaping where data centers choose to build and how they power their operations. Under a “kill switch” law that was adopted earlier this year, utilities can forcibly disconnect large, noncritical industrial users like hyperscale data centers during grid emergencies to keep electricity flowing to the largest number of people.
Major cloud players like Oracle are looking to shield their operations using onsite storage and generation. What that means in practice, however, is that a new method of data center siting is emerging, where the map is drawn around storage potential rather than just transmission lines.
The general idea remains the same across state lines, but what it looks like in practice varies greatly. In California, for instance, ensuring steady access to power as quickly as possible means designing storage-backed microgrids that let a data center jump the queue and bypass long interconnection wait times.
It’s more of a structural problem, though it’s one that makes traditional grid expansion nearly impossible at the pace AI-driven workloads demand.
“Operators there are adopting islanded microgrids to bypass utility delays,” explained Roth. But, he cautioned, there’s also a political dimension.
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