Will the power for the data centers come from???
It appears that ‘some’ of the huge data centers planned with consume up to 5 Gigawatts of power. Who is going to provide it???
HERE was Google in 2017 talking about green/sustainable energy for ‘their’ data centers…
And this week, we have HERE from Google in 2025…
Here are the current top ten Data Centers in the US and their power requirements.
| # | Location | Data Centers | Megawatts |
| 1 | Northern Virginia | 300 | 3,945 |
| 2 | Phoenix | 100 | 1,380 |
| 3 | Dallas | 150 | 1,125 |
| 4 | Atlanta | 80 | 1,065 |
| 5 | Chicago | 110 | 805 |
| 6 | Northern California (Silicon Valley) | 160 | 790 |
| 7 | Portland (including Hillsboro) | 50 | 540 |
| 8 | New York & New Jersey | 145 | 450 |
| 9 | Seattle (including Quincy) | 70 | 395 |
| 10 | Los Angeles | 65 | 220 |
| Total | — | 1,230 | 10,715 |
The direct link is HERE. What I find interesting is that the three smallest are in Seattle, LA, and Portland, all places that have power issues…
The following YouTube is the planned mega or hyper data centers. It’s 36 minutes long, but very informative… especially the way they are getting power…
I can’t help but wonder what will happen to those folks who also need power for their homes? Who has the priority???
Somehow, I don’t think it will be the little people… Sigh…
It will take more than wind, and solar, to satisfy the projected demand. That leaves nuclear, and fossil fuels. In my opinion, unless there is a huge push for more coal production, data centers will either cause power issues for individuals, or never be built.
How are they going to power all the EVs as well? I can see the USA having brownouts and blackouts as a way of life.
Like California is already experiencing. Don’t California my power grid.
Most of the approved designs for modern full sized nuclear power plants are in the 1,000 to 1,300 megawatts electrical. At that level of power demand several units will be required. Small modular units of 50 to 200 megawatts won’t meet the demand without a lot of units. 20 200 Mwe for Northern VA alone, plus reserve units to cover outages.
The planned data center in the Texas panhandle is supposed to have wind turbines, solar panels, and four modular nuke plants. Now, where the water will come from, even if it is a closed system and recycles everything …. Remains to be seen. I’m not enthused about this proposed development, at least as described by the press releases.
I thought small nuke plants were going to be the way of the future for these data center . My kid was a MM1 Nuke (subs) (so Proud Dad I am) , he just says he boiled water and fixed shit , that is his reply and sticks to it . He works at a Data Center , big one in the northwest , something to do with the chilled water cooling systems and other stuff I guess. I asked him about using small nukes for power , he said “Yeah it is possible I guess , could be, maybe” He’s not much of a talker , phone or otherwise . Typical Nuke to Deck Ape conversation . He thinks I am a dumbass (not really.. well maybe) .
Off topic rant removed.
A number of data center designs use a huge amount of water for cooling too. Another scarce resource where they are building them.
Wasn’t aware that Seattle had power issues but I could be wrong. We have lots of hydroelectric dams, only problem is that they aren’t counted in this state as “renewable” energy sources. Which is weird, since it keeps raining.
SMRs are a great idea (Small Modular Reactor). They are being worked on (I used to have some great articles but have lost them all), but of course massive opposition ensues by the greenies, then the projects are cancelled due to rising costs, then the MSM runs big articles about how they aren’t the future that was promised.
Also, the data centers near me have direct connections to the power supply, so they get first call.
Your neighborhood can go weeks without power, but the data centers will be online
The mad rush to build multi acre data centers with nuclear reactors will abate when some 20 something figures out how to do AI with a desktop box that needs less than a kW. Anyone else remember what happened to Cray Supercomputer (and the gaggle of Japanese companies that copied them)? After all your entire body only uses less than 100W when resting.
Problem being until they break the current barrier of ‘it’s as small as they can get’ for microprocessors and cooling, there can’t be any more advancements in miniaturization and reduction of energy needed.
We’ve gotten to the point that literally we can’t get smaller because the Universe will break it.
The easy fix would build your own power plant on site using natural gas. Big manufacturing did that in the past. The steel mill I worked summers in college had a big coal fire brute.
The bad news is trying to get all the permitting done in the Blue states.
Where is Las Vegas on that list? They have a ton of datacenters too not to mention the demand for all the hotel/casinos out here.
Gerry, the natural gas pipelines don’t have infinite capacity to support more users either, the operators need to add compressor stations to move more product and the fight over adding those stations can be vicious. Combined cycle gas/steam turbine plants are about as efficient as a Carnot cycle plant can be but they still need fuel and lots of it.
The effort to force a new compressor station to an ‘alternate site’ an additional mile away from an established development now includes the state Attorney General. Said pipeline goes thru my property so I’m intimately away of the machinations of the pipeline operator to install the station where it is convenient for them but right next door to us with all the noise and fire hazards.
The oil patch recently scrapped (~15 IIRC) big about 800’ drill ships that were diesel electric, or diesel/heavy oil, depending on each individual hull they were between 38 to 46 mega watt plants. I know 8 were 46 MGW. They could have been put into a berth and by the shore power connection hooked directly into the grid. I mentioned it to a power company guy when this was happening, at a grand kids birthday party, where he was indifferent. That much power coming quickly on line would have helped until more permanent arrangements could have been made. (13,214bhp)
All- Thanks for the comments, and yes, there are GOOD alternatives being scrapped, plus the whole water for cooling ‘issue’ is another one that is not even being addressed… What happens when all the wells run dry because the DC took all the water???
We can guess, with reasonable accuracy, how the ‘little people’ will subsidize these power hogs, and live with brownouts and blackouts.
A joint venture between Google and TVA is building a Small Modular Reactor in Oak Ridge, TN. It’s output will offset (or power) a planned Google center in Northern Alabama.
The reactor will provide *part of the Google needs. It was already planned for as part of TVA capacity and they increased the reactor’s size by 12MW (to 50MW) from the original test unit size. Eventually Kairos will build enough reactors to provide 500MW to power 2 centers. The other center is in mid TN. TVA is purchasing the power from Kairos. At least they thought ahead about capacity. Lot of reactors going in somewhere(s).
The power will come from where they can get it easiest and cheapest….us.
WSF- Sigh…probably…
Steve- Good point!
Dan- Agreed…dammit!
Here in Oz, in the state of Tasmania to be specific, an investor bought an old (still operational) paper mill.
He planned to convert the old fossil-fuel powered steam generators that were used in the paper making process to run on clean hydro-generated electricity.
The state power authority rejected his application, saying, “NO WAY! We don’t have the generating capacity for that!”
The very next week, the Tasmanian government announced a new AI data center in the state, that was forecast to use more than twice the power that his upgraded steam generators would have consumed.