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.
![Enwin Utilities adds $1 million Terex electric bucket truck to fleet [video]](https://i0.wp.com/electrek.co/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/11/enwin_MAIN.jpg?resize=1200,628&quality=82&strip=all&ssl=1)
The Windsor, Ontario utility says it’s driving towards a more sustainable future after adding a dozen new electric vehicles to its fleet – including a state-of-the-art, 55-foot Terex electric bucket truck.
Based on a Class 7 (33,000 lb. GVWR) International eMV Series BEV, the Terex EV takes the eMV’s 291 kWh battery and adds the Terex Optima 55-foot aerial device and HyPower SmartPTO system to create a fully electrified utility service vehicle that can do anything its diesel counterparts can do while offering better, safer working conditions for utility crews.
“We’ve got 12 EVs,” said Gary Rossi, president and CEO, Enwin Utilities. That number represents fully 10% of the utility’s entire vehicle fleet. “Our centerpiece is our electric 55-feet bucket truck. It’s very quiet,” continues Rossi. “So (the truck) allows us, our crews, to communicate better. It’s not as loud in the community when they’re doing repairs in someone’s backyard.”
That notion is echoed by Terex, itself. The company says its HyPower SmartPTO (power take off), which replaces a mechanical PTO, avoids a loud idling engine while reducing workers’ exposure to toxic exhaust fumes.
The utility company says the new electric bucket truck cost it almost $1 million Canadian – but while that might sound like a lot, Rossi says the price is similar to what a similarly-optioned ICE version of the bucket truck would cost.
“It’s all about building Windsor’s future and literally plugging into the battery factory down the road that is being constructed and showing that Windsor is a leader on this front,” says Drew Dilkens, Mayor of Windsor. “I don’t own an internal combustion engine vehicle,” adds Mayor Wilkins. “I only own two electric cars. My wife and I, we made the change starting in 2019 and I can’t see myself ever going back.”
CTV News Windsor
Enwin says its commitment to clean energy extends beyond its vehicle fleet. The company recently unveiled a massive MW solar rooftop net metering facility at its Rhodes Drive headquarters with over 3,000 solar panels. The site, one of Canada’s largest solar installations, generates enough clean electricity to power 300 homes annually.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Terex; Enwin via CTV News Windsor.
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Built by Damen Shipyards and the first fully electric tugboat to be deployed in the Middle East, the new RSD-E Tug 2513 Bu Tinah put in its record-breaking performance took place at Khalifa Port during ADIPEC, the world’s largest energy conference.
The RSD-E Tug 2513 is based on the already efficient hull design of the standard, diesel-powered RSD Tug 2513, but its new, fully electric propulsion arrangement enables it to offer zero emissions operations in situations where oil or fuel leakage would be – let’s say especially bad.
But, while the “clean” aspect of all-electric operation is obvious, its Guinness World Record of performance shows that the Damen RSD-E Tug 2513 is up to whatever task its owners put to it.
“This Guinness World Record achievement demonstrates that the transition to alternative energy does not come at the cost of performance,” explains Maritime & Shipping Cluster, AD Ports Group, Captain Ammar Mubarak Al Shaiba. “We are very proud that the first electric tug in the Middle East is also making waves on a global level with this accolade and the fact that in parallel it is improving the sustainability of our operations alongside cost efficiencies in terms of overall fuel saving is extremely important. This vessel is now a key component of our Marine Services fleet and our electrification strategy.”
To earn its record, the the Damen RSD-E Tug 2513 Bu Tinah recorded an average high peak bollard pull of 78.2 tonnes (about 86 ‘Murican tons). The record-setting tugboat can undertake a minimum of two towage operation on a single charge, and can be recharged on a marine DC fast charger in just two hours.
Electrek’s Take
We’ve come a long way since 2021, when a 6MW electric tugboat was pulling about 50 tonnes of bollard weight. A nearly 50% jump in performance without a similar weight or mass gain is a sign of advancing technology – and we are here for it.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Damen.
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