Energy availability is now the bottleneck
It’s clear from every customer conversation that energy availability is the number one constraint.
In many leading data center markets, developers have access to capital, land, fiber, and skilled labor. What they don’t always have is a viable grid connection within the required timeframe. That’s a problem, and it’s getting worse.
Being a load on the grid is not enough. It’s necessary to reimagine the role of the data center to become a flexible and versatile player in a much more dynamic power system.
This means data center operators need to work together with utilities and infrastructure partners earlier in the design cycle. Additionally, it means building in capabilities, such as storage, on-site generation, load shaping and participation in ancillary markets, which were previously considered out of scope even a few years ago.