Data centre executives pivot toward onsite power, per new report
Source: Baxtel.
Data center leaders told Bloom Energy in a survey that they expected approximately 30% of all sites to use some onsite power as a primary energy source, supplemental to the grid by 2030.
Onsite turbines, reciprocating engines and fuel cells will increasingly power data centres, according to a survey by fuel cell manufacturer Bloom Energy.
In April and November 2024, Bloom surveyed a range of managers to C-suite executives from hyperscaler and colocation developer companies. The 100 data centre leaders make decisions about power systems architecture.
Historically, data centres have used onsite power mostly for backup purposes. The shift toward onsite power generation as a primary source of power comes in response to data centres facing grid connection delays. Leveraging onsite power could also ease pressure on the nation’s aging electric grid.
In November, data centre leaders said they expected approximately 30% of all data centre sites to use some onsite power as a primary energy source supplemental to the grid by 2030, 2.3 times more than just seven months earlier.
The report noted there were more data centre announcements featuring onsite power in 2024 than the previous four years combined.
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“We were surprised by the pace of change and the growing expectation that onsite power generation will play a greater role in powering data centre projects,” reads the Bloom Energy report.
Data centre leaders also expect power availability to get worse.
In the US, 55 GW of data centre IT capacity is expected to come online in the next five years, according to the report. An additional 35 GW of data centre capacity is expected to be announced during that time.
Data centres, while not the only reason for load growth in the US, are the largest driver. Data centres by 2030 could require 8-12% of the total US demand, compared to 3-4% today, according to the report.
As new data centre projects struggle to get timely access to power, data centre leaders are seeing value differently. Time to power is playing an increasingly important role in this equation.
Bloom Energy predicts that their decisions will go beyond traditional factors, like reliability and cost.
The company’s report found that leaders are now ready to invest 50% more than seven months ago if that means they can access power faster for upcoming data centre projects.
“This shift underscores an important insight: being online ahead of competitors is a strategic advantage, particularly for AI data centres,” reads the report. “Leaders recognize that accelerating power access is key to securing a leading position in this rapidly evolving landscape.”
How are data centre leaders choosing generation technologies?
Combined-cycle gas turbines (CCGT) are primarily being used in large AI training data centres that require 500 MW or more capacity. Smaller inferencing data centres – focused on the application of trained models – are more often relying on simple cycle turbines, sometimes paired with batteries.
While these turbine technologies are currently the most common onsite power solutions, long supply chain lead times and higher carbon dioxide emissions are limiting factors in their adoption.
Fuel cells, which convert natural gas or hydrogen into electricity, are gaining popularity in data centre projects because they are quick to deploy and produce fewer emissions and less pollution than natural gas-fired turbines.
While fuel cells can be more expensive than some other solutions, the Bloom Energy report noted that data centre leaders often prioritize them for their faster deployment, easier permitting and greater power density.
In November, Power Engineering reported that AEP agreed to secure up to 1 gigawatt (GW) of Bloom Energy solid oxide fuel cells for data centres and other large energy users who need to quickly power their operations while the grid is still being built out to accommodate demand.
Data centre leaders are also optimistic about emerging technologies such as geothermal power, small modular reactors (SMRs) and gas generation with carbon capture and sequestration (CCS).
Bloom Energy is seeing these technologies appear in data centre companies’ long-term roadmaps. The company said recent announcements related to these technologies focus on data centres that are expected to go online after 2030, due to the technologies’ early stage of development.
Originally published by Kevin Clarke on Power Engineering.
