Renewable energy will be the predominant power source for data centers, Nextracker CEO says
Photoelectric modules at a solar farm in Hanstholm, Denmark. The solar panels are part of the renewable energy sources that power Apple’s European data center in Viborg.
Christoph Dernbach | Picture Alliance | Getty Images
The surging power needs of artificial intelligence and data centers will be met primarily with renewable energy — not fossil fuels, according to the CEO of a leading solar company.
The natural gas industry believes it is best positioned to fulfill the surging power demand from data centers, arguing that renewables aren’t reliable enough to power these energy-hungry projects alone.
But Dan Shugar, the CEO of Nextracker, said the low cost and rapid deployment of solar as well as the ambitious climate goals of Big Tech will make renewable energy the preferred power choice for data centers.
Nextracker builds systems that allow solar panels to track the position of the sun, increasing the efficiency of renewable power plants. The company has beat Wall Street expectations for four straight quarters. Nextracker has a backlog of more than $4 billion and has shipped 100 gigawatts to date, twice the peak power load of California.
Nextracker shares are up 19% year to date and 37% over the past two months. About 80% of Wall Street analysts who cover the company rate its stock as buy or overweight, according to FactSet.
Nextracker shares year to date
Shugar pointed to the more than 1,500 gigawatts of power generating projects requesting connection to the electric grid. Solar represents 70% of those projects, or 1,028 gigawatts, according to the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, a Department of Energy sponsored lab.
When including wind power, there are about 1,400 gigawatts of renewables seeking connection, which is more than the entire installed capacity of the U.S. electric grid. Gas projects, on the other hand, make up 79 gigawatts, or 5%, of the power in line for connection.
“There’ll be some gas, but we believe based especially on the data published by the DOE, the predominant energy source for these data centers is going to be renewable energy,” Shugar told CNBC in an interview Thursday.
“Our industry is just way ahead, no matter how you slice it,” the CEO said.
Big Tech wants clean energy
Goldman Sachs estimates that electricity demand from data centers will more than double to 8% of total U.S. power consumption by 2030.
Whereas older data centers may have been 100 to 200 megawatts in size, some of the “monster data centers” today may be as big as 1,000 megawatts, Shugar said. That is equivalent to the power produced by the average nuclear plant.
Goldman sees natural gas supplying 60% of the power demand growth from data centers and renewables supplying 40%, according to an April report from the investment bank.
Goldman estimated that carbon emissions from data centers could more than double by 2030 to about 220 million tons, or 0.6% of global energy emissions, assuming gas provides most of the power. Shugar pointed to the tech companies’ climate goals as catalyst for renewables demand.
“The clients that are developing these data centers, they have very serious sustainability goals and they don’t want their power coming from fossil,” Shugar said. “Basically renewable is lower cost than gas.”
Microsoft, for example, recently signed a massive renewable energy deal with Brookfield Asset Management. The companies described the agreement as the largest renewable energy deal signed between two corporate partners to date.
The backlog problem
Analysts, however, have pointed to the massive backlog of renewables in the connection queue as a challenge for the industry, which could result in increased utilization of existing gas assets for the time being to help power data centers and other projects.
“If you want to build a new renewable or any new project which connects to the grid, it will take at least two to three years to get all the interconnection approvals,” said Maheep Mandloi, director of clean energy research at Mizuho Securities.
Shugar said the backlog can be a problem for some projects, but once the interconnection process is done construction proceeds quickly. Fossil fuel plants have a longer development cycle than renewables, are harder to permit, and face the issue of variable fuel costs, he said.
“The point is there’s a massive, massive portfolio of projects all across the United States that’s already applied, put down interconnection deposits, has engineering studies advanced with utilities,” he said.
The CEO also pushed back against the argument that variable weather conditions, or intermittency, presents a problem for renewables. “I don’t buy it,” he said.
Most utility-scale solar projects Nextracker is involved with have battery storage associated with them, Shugar said. Batteries store energy for deployment when the sun is fading or wind conditions aren’t as strong.
Battery storage in the U.S. is expected to nearly double this year by 14.3 gigawatts, according to the Energy Information Administration. There are 1,000 gigawatts of storage waiting for connection right now. All told, there is a total of 2,480 gigawatts of solar, wind and storage line to be connected, according to Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. This is almost double the current capacity of the U.S. electric grid.
“The short story is we see data centers becoming an increasingly significant demand driver for renewables both from aggregate demand standpoint as well as an environmentally preferred source of energy,” Shugar said.
The world’s leading electric vehicle (EV) maker is rapidly expanding overseas. After taking control of vehicle sales in Germany last year, BYD is about to do the same in another key overseas EV market.
BYD to take control of EV distribution in Australia
Last August, BYD reached an agreement with Heden Mobility Group to acquire Heden Electric, which was responsible for importing its vehicles and spare parts for sale in Germany.
The move gives BYD more control over pricing and other areas of distribution as it expands the brand overseas. By taking over control, the company can sell its vehicles directly to buyers. And, it can also set prices.
According to EVDirect, BYD’s official distributor in Australia, the company is preparing for a similar move in the region. Luke Todd, founder and chairman of EVDirect, said the takeover would help unlock BYD’s potential in Australia.
Todd said the first phase was proving that the “BYD brand would thrive here,” and the next phase will make EV ownership “easier and more accessible than ever.”
Since launching its first vehicle, the Atto 3 SUV, in 2022, BYD has become one of the fastest-growing car brands in Australia.
BYD now offers a complete lineup of six vehicles, ranging from the low-cost Dolphin and Atto 3 to mid-size SUVs (Sealion 6 and 7), electric sedans (Seal), and even a pickup (Shark 6).
Earlier this year, the company introduced a new entry-level “Essentials” trim, slashing prices across its entire lineup.
According to TheDriven, BYD has three of the top 10 best-selling electric vehicles (EVs) in Australia as of April. The Sealion 7, launched in just February, placed fifth with 1,473 units sold, trailing the Tesla Model Y (3,394), Model 3 (2,266), MG4 (1,698), and Kia EV5 (1,509).
BYD’s Atto 3 took sixth (956) while the Seal (637) and Dolphin (431) placed ninth and 14th through the first four months of 2025, respectively.
Taking control of distribution is expected to help improve service for current BYD drivers and will likely boost EV adoption in Australia.
Electrek’s Take
BYD’s sales are surging in China and overseas. In April, BYD sold more electric vehicles (EVs) in Europe than Tesla for the first time. Now, it’s launching its best-selling and most affordable electric car, the Dolphin Surf (also known as the Seagull EV in China).
S&P Global Mobility is calling for BYD to more than double its sales in Europe this year to around 186,000 units.
And clearly it’s not just Europe. BYD is quickly establishing its presence in major overseas markets, including Mexico, Brazil, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand, and many others.
With local production coming online and new, custom-tailored vehicles launching, BYD is laying the groundwork to continue gaining global market share over the next few years as the industry shifts toward electric vehicles. And that’s not even scratching the surface, with BYD’s new battery and ultra-fast EV charging technology set to change the game.
Source: EVDirect, TheDriven
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Environment
RJ Scaringe teases R2’s rear suspension, telling followers the new Rivian EV is ‘sooo good’
Less than a week after sending a beautifully wrapped fleet of R2 validation prototypes out into the wild, Rivian founder and CEO has shared more of the design work at HQ, including a look at the EV’s multi-link rear suspension.
We will be able to assemble the upcoming Rivian R2 EV with our mind’s eye if RJ Scaringe keeps posting updates with images of key components.
Over the past month, Rivian founder and CEO RJ Scaringe has shared several social media posts centered around Rivian’s next flagship EV model, the R2, which is scheduled to hit the market next year.
Recent posts included two looks at Rivian’s Maximus Drive Unit that will power the R2s, the EV’s body harness, and a fleet of validation models assembled on a pilot line at Rivian’s Normal, Illinois, production facility (complete with some fantastic “validation-only” wheels).
Rivian’s company account has also joined the social media onslaught, sharing a video last week of Senior Director of Exterior Design Jonathan Szczupak walking through the unique wraps on the R2 validation EVs before they left Normal, Illinois, for real-world testing.
Today’s post from RJ isn’t as visually pleasing as last week’s camouflage wraps, but it is exciting nonetheless, especially for the CEO behind the new model.
RJ “can’t wait” for people to drive the new Rivian R2 EV
RJ posted the two images above, showcasing the R2’s multi-link rear suspension alongside a brief caption:
The R2 multi-link rear suspension includes 5 stamped steel links and uses an isolated rear subframe to deliver incredible ride quality and handling, while achieving our optimized cost structure. Our “starfish” forged aluminum rear knuckle integrates bushings for each of the 5 rear suspension links to reduce unsprung mass to support enhanced ride quality.
The Rivian founder always does an excellent job of breaking down exactly what is in each photo he posts and explaining the design benefits of said component in a more easily digestible way, especially if you’re not a “gear head.”
What is just as exciting is RJ’s continued enthusiasm for the upcoming Rivian R2 EV. Its hype train is chugging at full speed, and on paper, it has the makings to skyrocket Rivian’s sales reports and set the company up for a nice run of additional models, like the R3 and R3X.
At the end of RJ’s post, he shared this excitement:
Can’t wait for folks to get to drive R2 — it’s sooo good!!
Of course, Rivian’s founder is going to say the R2 is good, but when RJ says it, it’s easy to genuinely believe him. Everything Scaringe and Rivian have shown us of the R2 so far has been impressive, so it’s not unreasonable to think that this new EV won’t just be “so good,” it could be utterly amazing.
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Floating offshore wind tech company Aikido is working with Norway’s Marin Energy Test Centre (METCentre) to launch a massive 15-megawatt (MW) demonstration project called AO60. Scheduled for deployment in 2027 off the coast of Haugesund, AO60 will be one of the largest floating wind platforms ever built.
The METCentre has a track record of supporting pioneering floating wind projects, including the world’s first floating turbine deployed by Equinor (then Statoil) in 2009. Now, it’s getting ready to host another first: Aikido’s innovative platform is designed to slash costs and make assembly and deployment a whole lot faster and simpler.
At the heart of Aikido’s approach is its compact, modular platform made up of 13 steel components – columns and trusses – that can be fabricated at standard offshore wind or steel manufacturing sites. Thanks to a clever “flat-pack” design and pin-joint connections that act like hinges, the platform can fold up to take up just one-third of the space of conventional designs during transport.
There’s no heavy-duty welding or painting during assembly, and the platform can be completed in days, not months. Once it’s in the water, a ballasting process unfolds the structure into its full size, ready to go.
It can also use Norway’s existing ports, infrastructure, and vessels, keeping things local, faster, and cheaper.
“We are proud to announce our partnership with the METCentre,” said Aikido CEO Sam Kanner. “This project will show how Aikido can leverage existing infrastructure and vessels to reduce risks and accelerate the deployment of floating wind in Norway and around the world.”
METCentre director Cecilia Girard-Vika added, “This project offers valuable industry experience and supports the development of a full-scale, innovative, and cost-effective solution. We are very excited to welcome Aikido to our site in Norway and connect them with Norway’s strong floating offshore wind supply chain.”
Read more: The world’s largest single-capacity floating wind platform has two turbines
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