boognish_bear said:
article is absolutely correct that energy is the primary limiting factor (but not the only one) in how fast the data centers get built, but the pace of the rollout is somewhat more optimistic than the post indicates. The other limiting factor is build out....there aren't enough construction crews to pop these things out at the rate needed. Or enough pipeline crews to bring all the gas lines requested. Or water lines requested. And so on. So what we will see is not a prototypical 1gw DC with 8-10 buildings getting started & finished in 18 months or so. They'll scratch together enough power to get a building or two built, fill it with tenants, then keep scratching away for more power until they get enough to put up 2 more buildings, and so on until complete. A 2-year program might run 6-8yrs.
I will be meeting tomorrow with a group that will be running nearly entirely on solar, and already has it contracted. Propylene glycol cooled, so limited water. They may have an edge in the race.
Rick Perry is the face of a group developing mini-nuke plants.....conceptually like the nuke plant on a Los-Angeles class submarine. Have heard that's 18 months away or so. Drop one in and you have all the power you need.
Most of the larger DCs are putting in more back-up generation capacity than they need to run their DC. That allows them to dump into the grid. If they're forced to use backup power, they by the definition the grid is starved for power. So they'll be able to help with that.
Tremendous energy at all levels working the logistical constraints. Expect innovations.