Mergermarket’s Post

Deep Atomic launches data center specific SMR According to the company it's suited to the full suite of data center operations Summary: Deep Atomic's launch of the MK60, a small modular reactor (SMR) tailored for data centers, introduces a game-changing solution for powering and cooling critical compute infrastructure. With a capacity of 60MW for both electricity and cooling, the MK60 addresses the substantial energy and thermal needs of high-density data centers supporting cloud, cryptocurrency, and AI workloads. Unlike larger reactors, this compact light water SMR offers flexibility through modular deployment, making it ideal for locations with limited grid access or edge deployments close to urban centers. Deep Atomic CEO William Theron highlights that on-site SMRs like the MK60 can alleviate grid strain by offering "firm energy"—consistent, weather-independent power. The SMR's small size reduces capital costs and accelerates deployment timelines, offering an advantage over large-scale reactors from competitors like Kairos and Rolls-Royce. The interest in SMRs for data centers has soared, with hyperscalers like AWS and Google securing supply agreements for nuclear power from SMR developers. AWS’s partnership with Energy Northwest and Google’s contract with Kairos Power signal a broader shift toward nuclear solutions for sustainability. Industry leaders Equinix and Prometheus Hyperscale are also exploring nuclear options through partnerships with fast-fission developers Oklo and Prometheus. The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) recent $900 million funding initiative to promote domestic SMR deployment underscores nuclear energy’s growing role in the sustainable data center sector, positioning SMRs as a key enabler for the next wave of resilient, low-carbon data infrastructure. #SMRForDataCenters #DeepAtomicMK60 #NuclearEnergy #SustainableDataCenters #EnergyInnovation #OnsitePower #EdgeComputing #LowCarbonEnergy #DataCenterCooling #FirmEnergy

An unashamed advertorial for/by Bloom Energy but nonetheless informative on the huge power demands of data centres and their unrelenting growth. Google has previously reported that - for/from an ESG perspective the GHG impact of backup diesel generators is *inconsequential*. We really have to work out the balances, realisability and feasibility of backup systems… and imho that points to continued value, and low impact, of “traditional” b/up power systems.

I believe most wind & solar projects face transmission network issues. There is a long waiting queue for these projects to get grid connected. Is it possible to use this green electricity generated to be used for production on-site of hydrogen/ammonia?

We can do better in less than 15 years. "Currently, there is no purely green solution for 50 to 100 megawatts of power that is scalable, reliable, and sustainable. There are absolutely steps the industry can take today, we should and must take them. Deploying lower carbon solutions today pays massive dividends in the future. Forward-thinking customers are taking action now while the world waits for a utopia-like green hydrogen solution, which, in my opinion, is still five to 15 years out,” he says.” #nuclear #geothermal #hydro #longdurationenergystorage

#ai workloads will drive huge increases in electricity demand by data centers. Estimates are a doubling in 2 years. Microsoft is exploring nuclear energy in small modular reactors (SMRs), for data center power. This removes dependency on variable green energy sources like wind and solar. After successfully using lithium-ion batteries at a Dublin data center, Microsoft wants to expand grid-interactive battery storage in other areas. Check out Appledore Research reports published yesterday on #telco sustainability and use of #networkautomation as effective strategies to manage energy consumption and reach #netzero targets. https://lnkd.in/eaRT5BE9

🤝AWS $650M Deal: Talen Energy Corp. Nets $361M 🤯A mega deal to place Amazon Web Services to hold one of the largest data center campus using carbon-free power in the United States and world by a single owner. 🔗You have to read this to believe it👇: https://lnkd.in/gY9nFZcz #NuclearPower #Uranium #BitcoinMining Talen Energy Amazon Web Services (AWS)

OpenAI CEO Altman Says Future of AI Depends on an Energy Breakthrough OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman said at a forum held at the Davos conference in Switzerland that an energy breakthrough is necessary for future artificial intelligence. It is needed, he said, because the semiconductors that process AI applications consume enormous amounts of electrical power. Altman said the power requirements for the semiconductors that run AI software applications are much greater than he expected. It follows that the data centers that will host the computers using these chips will be larger and consume much more electricity than facilities that host traditional business transaction processing programs. Where and How Will the Power Come from for Data Centers? At Davos Sam Altman told the Reuters news wire, “There’s no way to get there without an (energy) breakthrough,” he said. “It motivates us to go invest more in fusion.” Altman also said he wished the world would embrace nuclear fission as an energy source as well. Microsoft’s Commitment to Nuclear Fission and Fusion Microsoft is OpenAI’s biggest financial backer having invested $13 billion in the firm and provides computing resources for AI. If it is going to realize a return on that investment, it will need unprecedented amounts of electrical power to run the data centers that will process AI software applications. It follows that it will likely replicate its power purchase agreement with Constellation Energy to draw power from the utility’s nuclear reactors. Looking at the future, the demand for electrical power to support data centers that host artificial intelligence software, as well as other business applications, may result in partnerships involving Microsoft and developers of small modular reactors (SMRs) which can offer the advantage of a secure, captive source of reliable conditioned power for the firm’s data centers. By positioning itself as a customer of power from SMRs, and not as a developer of nuclear reactors, Microsoft, and other major IT platforms like Amazon and Google, may become initiators of new demand for SMRs focused on a specific vertical market, e.g. power for data centers, beyond general demand for electricity. Siting Options for Data Centers and SMRs It follows that given the multi-year delays in building new long distance electricity transmission lines, that data centers seeking to rely on nuclear power should consider the following sequences of priorities for location and development. First – Locate adjacent to an existing nuclear power plant anchoring the business relationship on a power purchase agreement. Second – Locate adjacent to a small modular reactor built on or near the site of an existing nuclear reactor. Third – Locate adjacent to a greenfield SMR that has a locked in grid connection. Read the full text of this report at Neutron Bytes https://lnkd.in/euknmVV9

The increase in “large load projects” — which use significant amounts of energy to operate — is projected to be a risk to the reliability of the state’s power grid if new renewable energy resources are not introduced at a similar rate. The Independent System Operators most recent annual report showed that two years ago, 22 percent of the market was from hydro-electric power, 21 percent was from nuclear power, 4 percent from wind and less than 1 percent from solar, while more than 51 percent came from oil and gas. The strain of the “large load project” is expected to narrow the reliability margin as a project is brought onto the grid through an interconnection process. Kevin Lanahan, a spokesman for the Independent System Operators, said that the pace of new renewable energy sources is not matching the pace of retiring fossil fuel-based energy leaving the grid, leading to an overall decline in the total megawatts available on New York’s grid.

Program Managers and Base Commanders, there is a big train coming and no one is looking at it. We are going to strain the power grid or start to see outages soon. Military base Commanders, especially FOBs should be looking at this now. I worked two DARPA programs in the 90s Palm Power program in the 90s to produce fuel cells to replace the BA 5590s (Less weight and reliable power), Hydrogen Fuel Cells were the best solution, and we even shot them to prove they would blow up, crazy we still couldn't get the guys to take them. Hydrogen fuel is available worldwide and the output is water that you can drink.   The other program was developing photovoltaics, at the time only had 4% efficiency rate, they led to the creation of solar panels, the efficiency rate is still low, only 15-24%, 30 years later? As you know Data Centers are facilities that house the computing hardware used to process and store data. While some businesses maintain their own data centers on site, many others rely on ones owned and operated by someone else. The power needs of these new data centers can be gigantic. Microsoft and OpenAI’s planned “Stargate” data center is estimated to cost $100 billion and will consume up to 5 gigawatts of electricity — more than the capacity of the largest nuclear plant in the US today.  In northern Virginia, the power utility reports that planned data centers are asking for the equivalent of several nuclear reactors’ worth of new power. The need for more data centers with more equipment in them is skyrocketing due to video streaming, more remote work, businesses shifting to cloud computing, and, increasingly, the development of power-hungry AIs, which are projected to increase data center power demand by 160% over the next five years. By 2030, data centers will be consuming 8% of all US electricity, but that is not even the whole picture. It's not just the data centers, it's also cryptocurrency, which is growing worldwide fast, as of mid-July, a single bitcoin transaction required 1719.51 kilowatt hours (kWh) - where a kWh is the amount of energy a 1,000-watt appliance uses in over an hour. To put that in perspective, that is about 59 days’ worth of power consumed by an average U.S. household. On an average day, 240,000 bitcoin transactions are sent over the network. If that is not enough, from the beginning of time to 2018 the World generated just over 6 Zettabytes (A zettabyte is one trillion gigabytes) of data, in 2023, the world generated a little more than 120 zettabytes of data. Forbes and IBM believed the world will be creating more than 160 zettabytes of data by 2025. The US Military is trying to get to 5G capabilities, but we need 10G. This train is getting bigger and coming fast, and energy costs are going to rise! I would bet no one is increasing their energy budget over the next five years other than for inflation? AND the rise in energy costs will affect the price of goods, materials, parts….i.e. everything!

Over the next 5 years National Grid plans to spend £30 billion on updating power grid infrastructure as part of the UK’s transition to a decarbonised grid. Large investments are also planned for low-carbon technologies, including wind, solar, nuclear and batteries. Operating a #netzero grid is also a challenging optimisation problem because grid power flows must match demand while remaining within safe limits. That's where quantum computing comes in - https://ow.ly/TWmL50SYhrJ #renewableenergy #energytransition