I’m struggling to get up a very steep learning curve on the subject of Data Centers, specifically the mammoth hyper scale AI based centers that are now being sited around the country, and consume energy and water on the scale of small cities.
To get oriented on the macro scale, I’m listening to Jigar Shah, who is a clean energy expert, investor, Founder of SunEdison, and President of Generate Capital, which invests in clean energy. Formerly director of the Department of Energy Loans Program Office, where he oversaw billions of dollars in clean energy investment.
I met Jigar some years ago at a conference in DC, and have always been more than impressed with a his grasp of the technology and economics of clean energy.
He is the expert’s expert in this area. I’ve taken the liberty of excerpting from two podcasts, one in which he is one of a panel of experts, Open Circuit, from Latitude Media, and the other, Energy Empire, which is his own vehicle.
The gist is – plans to power data centers with massive new natural gas turbines are half baked due to constraints on natural gas pipeline infrastructure – which takes years to build, if it can be permitted at all.
Below, Jigar’s guest is an expert on powering data centers – Tim Hade, Founder of Scale Microgrids, with deep experience in industrial Power systems
Hade says that many facilities that have been announced will simply not be built.
Jigar talks here about the current technology of Solar and batteries, much more readily scaleable than gas.
Trump administration running scared as they realize their solutions are not adequate, and may in fact guarantee higher rates, and angry voters.