Electricity

Server Racks on Data Center
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Hungry for Clean Energy, Facebook Looks to a New Type of Geothermal

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EcoTech Note:   Here’s a good example of a “power purchasing agreement,” probably at above-market rates, whereby Facebook (Meta, Inc.) will buy power from Sage Power in Texas.  Sage uses the same “enhanced geothermal” technology, borrowed from the fracking used in oil-and-gas drilling, that is used by Fervo, which is doing something similar in Nevada.  These new projects are bringing down the Green Premium, with a “levelized cost of energy” (LCOE) of about $0.06/kwh.  See also the promise of even better geothermal in the Quaise project in California.

Big tech companies across the United States are struggling to find enough clean energy to power all the data centers they plan to build.

Now, some firms are betting on ….

Germany shows how permitting reform works
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Germany shows how permitting reform works

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EcoTech Note:  Here’s a mangled meme — “Necessity is a mother.” Germany faced an energy crisis after the Russia-Ukraine war interrupted their supply of natural gas. Needing more energy, fast, they reformed their permitting process … and, predictably, clean energy supplies poured onto their grid.

In the Fall, we in the US have a similar opportunity. See Big News: Bipartisan Permitting Reform Legislation Is Moving!

Talk to renewable-energy executives for long enough and almost everyone will complain about the time it takes to get government permits to build their power plants. Unless you’re operating in Germany these days.

“We’re quite pleased,” said Karsten Brüggemann, vice president of Nordex, which manufactures wind turbines. Particularly since 2022, he said, Nordex has seen a rapid rise in the number of turbines deployed and future wind farms permitted.

Finalized federal plan outlines future of Nevada, Western solar development
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Finalized federal plan outlines future of Nevada, Western solar development

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Nearly one-fifth of Nevada’s public lands could open up to utility-scale solar development under the Bureau of Land Management’s final Western Solar Plan — drawing the support of solar developers and the ire of conservationists.

The document released Thursday designates about 18,000 square miles or 11.8 million acres — roughly 17 percent — of the state’s public lands for possible large-scale solar projects, identified as 5 megawatts and larger.

Currently, only about 15 percent of the state’s BLM-administered land is available for possible solar development. In addition to calling for nearly 12 million acres in Nevada to be open to solar development, the final plan increases the total acreage available across the West from 22 million to 31 million acres.

The first electric school bus fleet in the US will power Oakland homes

The first electric school bus fleet in the US will power Oakland homes

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In an industrial corner of Oakland, wedged between a 10-lane freeway and a freight terminal, sits California’s newest source of renewable energy: a squadron of shiny yellow electric school buses. It’s the first all-electric bus fleet serving a major US school district. Starting in August, the 74 vehicles will also supply 2.1 gigawatt-hours of electricity to the Bay Area power grid, enough energy for 300 to 400 homes.

DOE announces its first National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors
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DOE announces its first National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors

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In a continued effort to expedite the build out of a resilient and reliable electric grid, today the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) released a preliminary list of 10 potential National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors (NIETCs) to accelerate the development of transmission projects in areas that present an urgent need for expanded transmission.

ICC 2024 Revised Building Code Makes Electricity Minimums Optional
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ICC 2024 Revised Building Code Makes Electricity Minimums Optional

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The International Code Council, which sets model construction standards for new homes, was expected to include building electrification measures in its 2024 energy code on March 20. But following appeals lodged by industry groups, the ICC board moved the measures to the code’s appendices, effectively making them optional, as first reported by the Huffington Post.

If new homes aren’t wired for increasing power needs from electric appliances and car chargers, it will bump the effort and cost of making such upgrades onto homeowners — a deterrent to going electric.

Big Tech’s Latest Obsession Is Finding Enough Energy

Big Tech’s Latest Obsession Is Finding Enough Energy

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The world adds a new data center every three days according to Bill Vass, VP of Engineering at Amazon Web Services. The explosion of artificial-intelligence—and the data centers that power it—is fueling an insatiable appetite for electricity, creating risks to the grid and the transition to cleaner energy sources, according to utility executives. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates told the conference that electricity is the key input for deciding whether a data center will be profitable and that the amount of power AI will consume is staggering.

Data centers, bitcoin and EVs send utilities scrambling for more power

Data centers, bitcoin and EVs send utilities scrambling for more power

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After more than 30 years of falling or flat demand for electricity, electric utilities are forecasting the nation will need the equivalent of about 34 new nuclear plants, or 38 gigawatts, over the next five years to supply power for data centers, EVs, crypto mining, cannabis farming, more electrification and new industry according to filings made to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and compiled by Grid Strategies.

WRI Webinar Examines How to Expand Grid-enhancing Technologies
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WRI Webinar Examines How to Expand Grid-enhancing Technologies

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Note: This is an advanced topic — adding tech solutions to the existing grid so as to increase the ability of the existing transmission infrastructure to carry larger loads. The growth of demand for electricity is higher than anticipated, and the slow permitting process is retarding deployment of transmission lines that clean energy can connect with. These “GETs” are quick-to-deploy, relatively inexpensive stopgap measures until new transmission capacities are installed.