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Economist
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Economist
How managing energy demand got glamorous
The shed, a glittering cultural centre in Manhattan's Hudson Yards where Ralph Fiennes and Sir Kenneth Branagh have graced the stage, hosted an unlikely gathering of utility and technology bosses on May 29th. They were there not for Shakespeare, but for something as dramatic in its own way. The event celebrated Mercury, a new effort led by the Electric Power Research Institute (epri), an industry body, to create interoperability standards for 'micropower' devices inspired by the Bluetooth technology that revolutionised consumer electronics. It will allow such things as electric-vehicle (ev) chargers, heat pumps, solar panels, smart thermostats and residential batteries to communicate seamlessly with electricity grids.
Techday NZ
07-05-2025
- Business
- Techday NZ
AI reshapes data centre energy, cooling & sustainability strategies
The rapid expansion of artificial intelligence is driving significant changes in how data centres manage rising power and cooling demands worldwide. Farokh Ghadially, Vice President of IT & Data Centres at Schneider Electric, has outlined the substantial challenges and emerging strategies for the data centre sector in the wake of exponential AI growth. Ghadially states, "As AI continues to push the boundaries of what's possible its growing influence is pressuring enterprises, colocation providers, and tech giants to rethink data centre strategy. With that, how can the data centre industry navigate rapid transformation while simultaneously shifting gears at full speed?" He notes the dramatic escalation in energy use, saying, "Readily accepted as an essential tool for streamlining significant swaths of tech-driven tasks, it was the volume and velocity of AI enquiries that came as a surprise. Even more surprising has been the immense energy tradeoff." Pointing to research from the Electric Power Research Institute, Ghadially highlights that "a typical AI query consumes ten times the electricity of a traditional internet search, while generating original music, photos, and videos demands magnitudes more power." With 5.45 billion internet users globally, the fast uptake of AI is "driving power consumption to unprecedented levels. In fact, AI's computing capacity is expected to double approximately every 100 days, driving a 26% to 36% annual rise in global energy consumption linked to AI in the years ahead." This mounting demand has prompted industry leaders to reevaluate operational approaches to maintain data centre efficiency and reliability. Ghadially explains, "The best among them are pursuing innovative design to develop out-of-the-box strategies accommodating growth while maintaining reliability." Engineering solutions are at the forefront of this transformation. Ghadially identifies four main areas: rack configuration, cooling solutions, software management, and power optimisation technologies. AI workloads require new considerations for space efficiency. "AI workloads require thoughtful space planning to accommodate advanced cooling systems and the increased infrastructure footprint, driving increasing need for more compact and efficient designs. This is reshaping how space is used within data centres, with a heightened focus on optimising rack density and airflow to enhance overall performance." He notes, "Large AI training models – systems that teach computers to recognise data patterns – are driving a shift toward higher rack power densities. High-density racks are designed to accommodate more servers in a smaller area allowing for higher computing power without increasing space requirements." For scalability, "modular rack systems enable easy upgrades and scalability for data centres, allowing them to quickly adapt to changing AI power requirements without costly, extensive overhauls. However, as computing demands continue to rise, traditional cooling methods will struggle to maintain optimal temperatures." This leads to greater adoption of liquid cooling. "AI hardware is generating heat beyond the limits of traditional air-cooling, making liquid cooling essential for data centres to maintain peak performance. Liquid cooling not only manages higher thermal loads more effectively, it also helps extend equipment lifespan. As a result, data centres are increasingly installing liquid cooling to future-proof their facilities." "In addition, many are adopting hybrid cooling solutions that combine both air and liquid cooling to optimise performance and flexibility. This approach not only enhances cooling efficiency but also allows data centres to scale their operations in response to evolving workloads, ensuring they remain competitive in an increasingly demanding landscape." "To enhance cooling efficiency and ensure AI workloads are effectively managed, data centre operators are exploring new airflow design strategies. Proper airflow management is crucial in preventing literal hotspots and allowing equipment to remain within optimal temperature ranges, especially as AI-driven workloads generate significantly more heat." He elaborates, "For hybrid cooling setups, where both air and liquid cooling solutions are used, precise airflow control becomes even more essential. This often involves strategic placement of hot and cold aisles, containment systems, and optimised server arrangements to prevent air mixing and maximise cooling efficiency." Reference designs and proven architectures are also being deployed to improve system performance while controlling costs and energy use. Regarding power needs, "Higher-density workloads necessitate more robust power distribution systems. Data centres are seeking out more advanced uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) and scalable power solutions for reliable energy delivery. They are also equipping racks with advanced power distribution units (PDUs) that can handle higher wattages and allow for dynamic power allocation to support varying AI workloads." "What's more, data centres are collaborating more closely with utility companies to optimise energy sourcing and management. By working together, they can implement demand response programs and leverage renewable energy options, pursuing a more sustainable and resilient power infrastructure." The wider community is also benefiting from the sector's focus on sustainability. "Waste heat is primarily used to heat nearby buildings, like homes, offices, and even public spaces like swimming pools. By capturing the excess heat generated by servers and transferring it through a system of pipes, warmth is provided to surrounding areas. This illustrates how AI is driving community collaboration and contributing to energy conservation while supporting local heating needs." Ghadially adds, "Data centres are continuously developing more creative ways to capture and repurpose excess heat, enabling smarter, more precise management of energy resources." Examples include Google's operation in Hamina, Finland, where excess heat from a data centre is used by a nearby paper mill, and Equinix directing waste heat from its Paris data centre to warm local Olympic swimming pools. Other centres are channeling waste heat to indoor agriculture to support crop growth. The use of AI within data centres is aiding operations. "By channeling AI's problem-solving abilities, data centres operate more effectively with predictive analytics and intelligent systems that can monitor operations and streamline complex or time-consuming processes." "AI offers countless opportunities to enhance energy efficiency. AI can analyse real-time data to optimise cooling systems and drive peak performance while minimising energy use. Predictive analytics can forecast energy demands, allowing for more streamlined power distribution and waste reduction." Ghadially provides the example, "Google has implemented AI-driven predictive maintenance for its data centres, using machine learning algorithms to analyse sensor data from equipment like cooling systems, servers, and power units. This work enables Google to identify patterns that may indicate potential equipment failures, allowing for preemptive maintenance that reduces downtime and enhances reliability." He adds, "Additionally, Schneider Electric's AI-based technology provides real-time predictive maintenance insights by analysing the performance and condition of data centre equipment. Schneider's platform has the ability to prewarn of battery failures in UPS systems and optimises cooling system performance, prompting proactive repairs and improving data center energy efficiency." Security is also a consideration, with AI tools increasingly used to detect and address potential threats before they escalate. Ghadially concludes, "As AI adoption accelerates, data centres must be adaptive and nimble in stepping up to the plate. They need to implement strategic changes across all aspects of operations, from reimagining facility design and infrastructure to optimising power efficiency, cooling systems, and management practices. Investing in scalable, future-proof solutions is equally important for the infrastructure to evolve with advancing technology." "As AI revolutionises every facet of modern life, its transformative impact is felt deeply across the data centre industry. However, it also presents an extraordinary opportunity for data centres to take the lead in innovation and set new industry standards in sustainability and performance during one of the most exciting eras of digital transformation."
Scientific American
30-04-2025
- Climate
- Scientific American
U.S. Energy Secretary Tries to Blame Renewables for Spain's Power Outage
CLIMATEWIRE | Spain and Portugal were still in the dark Monday when U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright went on television to blame a widespread power outage on renewable energy. 'It's very sad to see what's happened to Portugal and Spain and so many people there. But you know, when you hitch your wagon to the weather, it's just a risky endeavor,' Wright told CNBC. The remark represented a thinly veiled swipe at wind and solar, which were powering almost three-quarters of the Spanish grid at the time it went dark. The comments stood in contrast to those made by the CEO of the Spanish grid operator, who said no 'definitive conclusions' for the outage had been reached. On supporting science journalism If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today. But they fit a broader pattern for Wright, a former oil field services executive who has sought to paint wind and solar as costly, unreliable energy sources that threaten the reliability of the electric grid. Renewables could have played a role in an outage that left tens of millions without power, grid experts said. But they cautioned against rushing to conclusions, saying that a series of systematic factors likely were needed for the power systems of two countries to go black inside five seconds Monday. 'What I would say is this has the hallmarks of being a very complicated event,' said Eamonn Lannoye, managing director for Europe at the Electric Power Research Institute, which works with the utility industry. 'It's not going to be cut and dry.' Grid disasters have become political fodder in recent years, fueling debates over the role of intermittent resources such as wind and solar. In 2021, when a winter storm slammed into Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott (R) was quick to blame wind and solar for rolling blackouts that left 4.5 million without power. An investigation by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission later concluded the state's power system was insufficiently winterized to survive such a storm. It pinned much of the blame on the state's natural gas system, which reported widespread freezes during the event. 'I've seen this playbook: Day one, blame renewables. Then the facts come out six months later,' said Michael Webber, a professor who studies the power industry at the University of Texas at Austin. 'There's always more to the story.' Wright has often taken aim at renewables during his time in office. In his welcome remarks to Energy Department staffers, he attributed rising power costs in Europe to solar and wind. A month later, at an industry conference in Houston, he said that wherever wind and solar generation increased, power prices have followed. Wright on Monday went on CNBC from Poland, where he had gone to announce a deal to help the country build its first nuclear power plant. He was asked by CNBC anchor Brian Sullivan if the blackout in Spain and Portugal had led to the realization "we're going to need a lot of power from all different types of sources?" Wright did not explicitly mention wind and solar in his response, but he claimed Europe's percentage of global gross domestic product was falling due to 'expensive, unreliable energy." 'It's a choice, but it's a bad choice,' he said. Andrea Woods, a DOE spokesperson, said Wright was responding to a question about the need to diversify energy supplies. 'He was not making an assessment on the cause of the blackout,' she said. Experts say there are challenges with running a power grid with growing amounts of renewable resources. Grid operators need to keep supply and demand in constant balance to maintain the system's electric frequency and inertia. That's easier to do with traditional resources such as coal, gas and nuclear, which rely on large spinning turbines, said Pratheeksha Ramdas, an analyst at Rystad Energy. Wind and solar facilities can be equipped with rotating turbines that provide those services, but few currently are, she said. Batteries can be used to stabilize frequency, but their deployment in Spain and Portugal is limited. 'It is still early to draw definitive lessons, as the full investigation is ongoing. However, the event does highlight some broad challenges — particularly the need for fast and flexible support systems to prevent cascading failures,' Ramdas wrote in an email. The outages in Spain and Portugal began shortly after 12:30 p.m. on Monday, when a widespread generation outage occurred in southwestern Spain, said Eduardo Prieto, CEO of Red Eléctrica, the Spanish grid operator. The system responded to the outage, but was hit with another generation outage 1.5 seconds later, he said. That prompted a disruption in power flows between Spain and France and widespread disconnection of renewable resources across the grid. Within five seconds, the voltage of the entire system went to zero. Asked at a press conference Tuesday if renewables had contributed to the outage, Prieto said it was 'premature to make any pronouncements' but noted the grid operator is investigating a widespread generation outage in the southwest. 'Given the southwest region I mentioned, it's quite possible the affected generation could be solar, but as I said, without the information, we cannot conclude anything definitively,' he said. Webber, the Texas professor, said he was struggling to understand how a sudden loss of power generation, particularly from a solar facility, could trigger such a widespread outage. Electric grids are designed to withstand sudden losses of generation from large power plants. Traditionally, those standards are designed to withstand a large nuclear power plant tripping offline, which would lead to a large disruption in the frequency and inertia of the electric grid. That 'one solar farm going offline should have caused so much trouble, that seems suspicious to me,' said Webber, who previously worked for a large French utility. 'Something happened there that I can't fully explain.' EPRI's Lannoye echoed that assessment. The more likely explanation is that the control systems, which connect power plants to the grid, likely failed at a series of facilities. That was the case in 2019, when a lightning strike hit an offshore wind farm and natural gas plant in the United Kingdom. The control systems on those power plants malfunctioned, precipitating a series of events that led to a power outage affecting 1 million people. But there is not enough information to determine why those systems might have failed in the case of Spain and Portugal, or if such controls were even at fault, he said. 'It's too early to cast judgment, and it's certainly not going to seal the fate of one technology or another,' Lannoye said. 'If a blackout had sealed the fate of a technology before now, we wouldn't have gas, we wouldn't have coal, we wouldn't have nuclear. We'd be left with no options.'
Boston Globe
30-04-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
What we know about Monday's sweeping power outage in Spain and Portugal
What happened? Spain and Portugal lost most of their electricity early Monday afternoon. Shortly after 12:30 p.m. local time, Spain lost 15 gigawatts of electricity — or roughly 60% of demand in the country of 49 million, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said. Advertisement There had been two significant 'disconnection events' — or interruptions in power — before the outage, Spain's electric grid operator Red Eléctrica de España said Tuesday. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up While Spain's grid managed to recover from the first event, systems operations director Eduardo Prieto said that the second was more damaging, progressing to the point of interruptions from France's electrical system and producing 'a massive, temporary disconnection.' About three hours before the outage, power quality sensors in homes in the Madrid area showed warning signs of an unstable grid — there were small fluctuations in voltage around 9:30 a.m. local time, Whisker Labs CEO Bob Marshall said Tuesday. The Maryland-based software developer has a couple dozen sensors in homes in and around Madrid, testing the technology for use in Europe for home fire prevention and grid monitoring. Advertisement Instead of normal, steady voltage, Marshall said the data shows there were oscillations whose frequency and magnitude increased over the next three hours until the grid failed. He does not know what caused the instability. Around noon, there was a big jump in the magnitude of the fluctuations, with the voltage measured going up and down by about 15 volts every 1.5 seconds, Marshall said. 'The way I would interpret our data,' Marshall said about Monday's events, 'is that the grid is struggling. Something's wrong. And it's showing increasing signs of instability.' What don't we know? We don't know exactly what caused Monday's fluctuations and eventual failure. 'There's a variety of things that usually happen at the same time, and it's very difficult for any event to say 'this was the root cause,'' said Eamonn Lannoye, managing director at the Electric Power Research Institute, Europe. Lannoye said there was a range of events that can explain grid failures, including that electric grid lines or generators are switched off in some locations for maintenance. 'This could be a really complex event, I think it's fair to say,' Lannoye said. What causes power outages? Power outages can have several triggers, including natural disasters and extreme weather, human-caused disasters, equipment failures, overloading transformers and wires and so on. Electric grids are sensitive to imbalances in the amount of energy generated versus what's used. Enric Bartlett, an energy expert and professor of public law at Spain's Esade business school, likened a grid's supply and demand balance to a tandem bike. 'To avoid falling, everyone must pedal at the same cadence,' Bartlett said. 'Electrical grids are large interconnected systems, and their stability is related to a very close balance between electricity generation and demand,' said Grazia Todeschini, an engineering researcher at King's College London. Advertisement 'If one area is disconnected, it can cause knock-on effects in nearby areas,' she said, adding that while grids have measures in place to limit the impact of outages to small areas, when the imbalance is large, disruptions can spread quickly and far. What have Spain and Portugal's governments said? Authorities in Spain and Portugal have downplayed the idea that a cyberattack was responsible. Spain's High Court said it would investigate to find the cause. On Tuesday, there was renewed attention on Spain's renewable energy generation. The southern European nation is a leader in solar and wind power generation, with more than half of its energy last year having come from renewable sources. Portugal also generates a majority of its energy from renewable sources. Questions remain about whether Spain's heavy renewable energy supply may have made its grid system more susceptible to the type of outage that took place Monday. The thinking goes that non-renewable energy sources, such as coal and natural gas, can better weather the type of fluctuations observed Monday on Spain's grid. That is because renewable energies like solar and wind provide intermittent supply, relying on when the sun is shinning and wind is blowing. However, in recent years batteries that store energy, along with other methods, have helped regulate changes in electricity supply from renewables. Lannoye said it was too early to draw a straight line between Monday's event and Spain's solar power generation. 'I think there's some putting the cart before the horse to say this was solar,' Lannoye said, simply because there was solar power on the grid at the time of the disruption. Advertisement Why was France partially affected? Europe's electric grid is highly connected, meaning that it can pool power between countries. That can make the system more resilient, experts say. It also means a disruption in a major transmission artery or frequency imbalance can trigger cascading protective shutdowns across countries, according to Shreenithi Lakshmi Narasimhan, member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. Spain and Portugal are connected to Europe's main electric grid through France. Spain's grid operator on Tuesday said that the sudden drop in power caused an interconnector between Spain and France to trip. Jennifer McDermott contributed to this report from Providence, Rhode Island.
France 24
30-04-2025
- Business
- France 24
What we know so far about the massive blackout that hit Spain and Portugal
The sweeping power outage that hit Spain and Portugal this week has raised questions about the electricity grid in a region not normally known for blackouts. Monday's outage, one of the worst ever in Europe, started in the afternoon and lasted through nightfall, affecting tens of millions of people across the Iberian Peninsula. It disrupted businesses, hospitals, transit systems, cellular networks and other critical infrastructure. Authorities in Spain and Portugal are still investigating exactly what caused the failure, though some information has emerged about happened. A timeline Spain and Portugal lost most of their electricity early Monday afternoon. Shortly after 12:30 pm local time, Spain lost 15 gigawatts of electricity – or roughly 60% of demand in the country of 49 million, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said. There had been two significant 'disconnection events' – or interruptions in power – before the outage, Spain's electric grid operator Red Electrica de Espana said Tuesday. While Spain's grid managed to recover from the first event, systems operations director Eduardo Prieto said that the second was more damaging, progressing to the point of interruptions from France's electrical system and producing 'a massive, temporary disconnection". 12:53 About three hours before the outage, power quality sensors in homes in the Madrid area showed warning signs of an unstable grid – there were small fluctuations in voltage around 9:30am local time, Whisker Labs CEO Bob Marshall said Tuesday. The Maryland-based software developer has a couple of dozen sensors in homes in and around Madrid, testing the technology for use in Europe for home fire prevention and grid monitoring. Instead of normal, steady voltage, Marshall said the data shows there were oscillations whose frequency and magnitude increased over the next three hours until the grid failed. He does not know what caused the instability. Around noon, there was a big jump in the magnitude of the fluctuations, with the voltage measured going up and down by about 15 volts every 1.5 seconds, Marshall said. 'The way I would interpret our data," Marshall said about Monday's events, "is that the grid is struggling. Something's wrong. And it's showing increasing signs of instability". Unknown cause We don't know exactly what caused Monday's fluctuations and eventual failure. 'There's a variety of things that usually happen at the same time, and it's very difficult for any event to say 'this was the root cause,'' said Eamonn Lannoye, managing director at the Electric Power Research Institute, Europe. Lannoye said there was a range of events that can explain grid failures, including that electric grid lines or generators are switched off in some locations for maintenance. 'This could be a really complex event, I think it's fair to say,' Lannoye said. Power outages can have several triggers, including natural disasters and extreme weather, human-caused disasters, equipment failures, overloading transformers and wires and so on. Electric grids are sensitive to imbalances in the amount of energy generated versus what's used. Enric Bartlett, an energy expert and professor of public policy at Spain's Esade business school, likened a grid's supply and demand balance to a tandem bike. 'To avoid falling, everyone must pedal at the same cadence,' Barlett said. 'Electrical grids are large interconnected systems, and their stability is related to a very close balance between electricity generation and demand," said Grazia Todeschini, an engineering researcher at King's College London. 'If one area is disconnected, it can cause knock-on effects in nearby areas,' she said, adding that while grids have measures in place to limit the impact of outages to small areas, when the imbalance is large, disruptions can spread quickly and far. Authorities in Spain and Portugal have downplayed the idea that a cyberattack was responsible. Spain's High Court said it would investigate to find the cause. Renewable energy On Tuesday, there was renewed attention on Spain's renewable energy generation. The southern European nation is a leader in solar and wind power generation, with more than half of its energy last year having come from renewable sources. Portugal also generates a majority of its energy from renewable sources. Questions remain about whether Spain's heavy renewable energy supply may have made its grid system more susceptible to the type of outage that took place Monday. The thinking goes that non-renewable energy sources, such as coal and natural gas, can better weather the type of fluctuations observed Monday on Spain's grid. That is because renewable energies like solar and wind provide intermittent supply, relying on when the sun is shinning and wind is blowing. However, in recent years batteries that store energy, along with other methods, have helped regulate changes in electricity supply from renewables. Lannoye said it was too early to draw a straight line between Monday's event and Spain's solar power generation. 'I think there's some putting the cart before the horse to say this was solar,' Lannoye said, simply because there was solar power on the grid at the time of the disruption. Europe's electric grid is highly connected, meaning that it can pool power between countries. That can make the system more resilient, experts say. It also means a disruption in a major transmission artery or frequency imbalance can trigger cascading protective shutdowns across countries, according to Shreenithi Lakshmi Narasimhan, member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. Spain and Portugal are connected to Europe's main electric grid through France. Spain's grid operator on Tuesday said that the sudden drop in power caused an interconnector between Spain and France to trip.
