On October 29, the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) announced the launch of DCFlex, a new initiative that aims to enhance data center flexibility and grid reliability.
EPRI reports that DCFlex will establish several flexibility hubs that will demonstrate innovative data center and power supplier strategies.
EPRI President and CEO Arshad Mansoor said flexible data center design and operation are essential for accelerating AI development while enhancing system reliability and minimizing costs and carbon emissions.
“Data centers play a critical role in today’s interconnected global information-sharing environment and economy, but along with increased manufacturing and movement towards electrification, they are placing additional power needs on the electric grid,” said Mansoor in a press release.
EPRI reports that the DCFlex initiative comes following discussions with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the data center, technology, utility, and research communities. Founding members include Compass Datacenters, Constellation Energy, Duke Energy, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), Google, Meta, New York Power Authority, NRG Energy, NVIDIA, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), PJM Interconnection, Portland General Electric, QTS Data Centers, Southern Company, and Vistra Corp.
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Hayden Beeson
Hayden Beeson is a writer and editor with over seven years of experience in a variety of industries. Prior to joining Lightwave and Broadband Technology Report, he was the associate editor of Architectural SSL and LEDs Magazine.