"In the US, the AI race has strained the electric grid to a near-breaking point. Utilities are reporting the need for about 60 gigawatts of new power, or six large cities' worth, by the end of the decade. It can take years of planning and regulatory hearings for power companies to bring new infrastructure online. With the rapid pace of new chip announcements, experts say it is becoming increasingly necessary for data centers to bypass public utilities and start providing their own power."
""The industry in general has known for years now that we're bumping up against grid capacity," said Sean Farney, vice president of data center strategy for the Americas at Jones Lang Lasalle. "To win in this game, they need to be innovative and release these self-generating solutions." OpenAI is already supplying its data center in Abilene, Texas, part of the Stargate project, with power via an on-site natural gas plant."
OpenAI signed a multibillion-dollar partnership with AMD to deploy 6 gigawatts of AI chips and also struck a 10-gigawatt deal with Nvidia. Rapid expansion of large-scale compute is driving substantial new electricity demand. Utilities estimate about 60 gigawatts of new power will be needed in the United States by the end of the decade. Bringing new grid infrastructure online can take years of planning and regulatory approval. Data centers are increasingly considering on-site power generation to avoid constrained public grids. OpenAI supplies its Abilene, Texas Stargate data center with power from an on-site natural gas plant. xAI has used mobile natural gas turbines and acquired a former gas plant site.
Read at Business Insider
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