back to article Looming energy crunch makes future uncertain for datacenters

Datacenter operators are facing a paradoxical crisis – demand for their services is greater than ever before, just as access to power, environmental concerns, rising costs and skill shortages have begun to threaten necessary infrastructure expansion. Over the past year The Reg has tracked how widespread interest in new types …

  1. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

    Power supply problems that nobody saw coming? Surprise, surprise.

    1. cyberdemon Silver badge
      Devil

      If you think it's bad here, just look at the Netherlands

      https://www.raponline.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/RAP-Pato-Netherlands-gridlock-2024.pdf

      We are already seeing EV charging stations powered by on-site Diesel gensets.. And "Diesel Farms" dotted around Britain to keep the lights onmake tons of money at the tax/billpayer's expense on the balancing/capacity markets

      Datacentre operators doing the same by overprovisioning backup generators and exporting Diesel power..

      All in the name of "Net Zero"...

      But what did we expect when we bow to NIMBY objections to pylons, nuclear power, even substations are being forced to use expensive-but-compact Gas Insulated Switchgear and underground cables (which are a very daft idea in all but a few cases due to their high capacitance) to hide their presence from local property owners

  2. Prst. V.Jeltz Silver badge
    Terminator

    quaint faith in technology means you believe that AI is going to solve the very issues it is causing.

    Well, why not?

    just because power needs are a problem relevant to AI does not have a bearing on its ability to solve it, if anything it would help because motivation, although thats more of a meatbag thing.

    #humanbatteries!

  3. Bebu sa Ware
    Facepalm

    Sinking Ship?

    Seems like a sinking wooden hulled steamship with the crew feeding furnace with wood from the ship's structure to keep the pumps and propeller going.

    Fairly quickly left with a drowning crew and steam engine plummeting into the depths.

    1. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

      Re: Sinking Ship?

      So reporting an ongoing reduction in feul costs while efficiently disposing of a depreciating asset and at the same time downsizing a non-economical crew

  4. scotty86

    on the other hand....

    datacentres will be fine.

  5. This post has been deleted by its author

    1. cyberdemon Silver badge
      Coffee/keyboard

      > First is the data for growing LLMs is being restricted

      Hahahaha

      Good joke.

  6. DS999 Silver badge

    We need to allow for

    Some method by which "unnecessary" large power consumers (such as cryptominers and AI training) can be cut off during any sort of power crisis such as peak demand load or distribution issues. Hopefully one where they aren't paid huge sums of money. They're causing the problems, they should be cut off without compensation when the problems they cause or make more frequent occur.

    Neither power use is time critical since they are essentially massive and nearly endless "batch jobs", so for the privilege of not being regulated out of existence by angry consumers who don't want to be paying 70% more for electricity 5 years from now they should be forced to endure the occasional unplanned uncompensated shutdown.

  7. ecofeco Silver badge
    Pirate

    Capitalism at its finest

    Create a problem, then offer a solution, for a price.

    Oh wait, that's extortion.

    Meh, same difference.

  8. MachDiamond Silver badge

    Labor is no problem

    There is no lack of skilled workers if a job pays a fair wage.

    Even casual fruit picking jobs would be a way to fund a summer trip across the US. Work a few days, travel a few days. Lots of US college students would do that for a summer. Now, the cost of living is much higher and the wages have fallen so far behind that it isn't an option. Even immigrants coming to the US for seasonal jobs can find it tough to make it work.

  9. michaelk4tech

    Balancing Immediate Needs with Long-Term Energy Solutions for Data Centers

    The article raises important concerns, but it overlooks the potential of "behind-the-meter" solutions like microgrids, battery storage, and on-site renewable generation to alleviate grid strain while enhancing data center reliability. Transitional fuels like natural gas, though imperfect, remain crucial until solutions like small modular reactors (SMRs) can scale.

    Furthermore, innovations such as liquid cooling and AI-driven workload optimization are already reducing energy consumption. The energy transition isn’t binary—it requires a combination of bridging solutions, operational efficiencies, and forward-thinking investments in technologies like microgrids and SMRs to create a more sustainable and resilient future.

  10. Alf Garnett

    Bad idea

    "Google, for example, has a newly forged agreement with solar energy firm Intersect Power to construct new bit barn capacity alongside additional power generation wherever possible, to create industrial parks powered by clean energy."

    this sounds like a bad idea to me. All the forests that won't be cut down for datacenters will be cut down for solar farms to power the datacenters. A nuclear reactor provides far more power than the same sized area would if covered in solar panels. Plus the reactor works at night and on cloudy days.

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