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.
Environment
Tesla has been testing robotaxi service without drivers for ‘several days’, says Elon Musk
Tesla has started testing its robotaxi service in Austin, Texas without safety drivers over the last few days, according to Elon Musk.
The automaker reportedly aims to launch its robotaxi service on June 12.
Earlier this month, it was reported that Tesla had yet to start testing its planned robotaxi service in Austin without safety drivers.
It was worrying a month away from the start of the service and in comparison to Waymo, which tested its system with safety driver for 6 months and without safety drivers for another 6 months before launching in Austin earlier this year.
Now, CEO Elon Musk has confirmed that the previous report was true as he announced that Tesla has been testing the service with “no one in driver’s seat” only for the “past several days”:
For the past several days, Tesla has been testing self-driving Model Y cars (no one in driver’s seat) on Austin public streets with no incidents. A month ahead of schedule.
He claimed that it is “a month ahead of schedule”, but he has also said that Tesla would launch the service to paid customers in June.
If true, it would imply that Tesla didn’t plan to test the service without a safety driver in the vehicle.
The CEO then added that Tesla will deliver a car to a customer from the factory using self-driving next month:
Next month, first self-delivery from factory to customer.
Tesla is planning to launch a small fleet of 10 to 20 Model Y vehicles for its robotaxi service in Austin next month.
Bloomberg recently reported that Tesla is aiming for June 12, but the date could change.
The service is expected to be using “heavy teleoperation.” Musk nor Tesla confirmed the level of teleoperation, but it could be significant as one teleoperator per car.
Over the last few days, several reports came out pointing to Tesla not having communicated important part of the planned rollout of the service to local authorities.
Electrek’s Take
At this point, I think this is either going to be fake, meaning an extremely high level of teleoperation, or a complete shit show, or both.
Musk claims to be “a month ahead of schedule” even though Tesla started testing its service without safety driver about 2 weeks before the planned start of the service. That’s ridiculous.
It’s not victory to have “no incidents” after a few days of testing. You need to have no incidents over months of testing and hundreds of thousands of miles before launching.
At this point, I’m praying that Tesla is launching this in a small geo-fenced area without highways or any high speed driving to limit potential dangers and to ensure teleoperators can increase safety. But even then, I fear there will be avoidable crashes.
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Tesla’s sales have fallen 87% in Quebec in the first quarter 2025 compared to the same period last year.
The critical Canadian market has been wiped out, and Tesla is no longer importing new vehicles.
Quebec is the leading EV market in Canada, with the highest adoption rate of new electric vehicles.
That’s due to incentives, cheap hydro electricity, and a strong base of EV enthusiasts.
As the EV leader in North America, Quebec became an important market for Tesla.
However, Tesla’s market in Quebec is now gone.
We don’t have all Canadian data for vehicle registrations in the first quarter; however, Le Devoir managed to obtain data for Quebec from the Société d’assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ), which revealed that Tesla delivered only 524 vehicles in Quebec during Q1 2025.
That’s down 87% compared to Q1 2024.
The pause in the Quebec and federal EV incentive programs contributed to the sharp decline, but the pause also happened in the quarter, which helped sales by creating urgency to buy and take delivery.
However, it also created an awkward situation for Tesla in which it was accused of filing thousands of questionable requests for incentives worth $42 million CAD, which it later claimed was a backlog of deliveries that it hadn’t filed yet.
This controversy added to growing brand damage for Tesla in Quebec and the broader Canada due to its CEO Elon Musk’s backing of Donald Trump, who is openly calling for the US to annex Canada.
Tesla’s Canadian Troubles are not over
While Q1 2025 was bad, Q2 could prove even worse. Tesla had to increase prices in Canada in April due to the Canadian government slapping 25% tariffs on its vehicles in response to Trump’s trade war.
The combination of the end of some incentive programs, the higher prices, and the degrading sentiment for Tesla in Canada and Quebec is leading to very few sales in the market.
A source familiar with the matter said that Tesla doesn’t plan to import more vehicles in the country this quarter due to low demand.
The broader EV market in Canada declined 45% in Q1 due to the pause in the incentive program, but Tesla’s decline was much sharper, indicating larger issues than just the lack of incentives.
Electrek’s Take
The situation for Tesla in Canada is even worse than in Europe right now. It’s not the largest market in terms of size, but it has a significantly higher EV adoption rate than the US and has helped Tesla in North America.
As long as the tariffs are in place, there’s little hope for Tesla in Canada.
Even if they are removed, which I hope happens soon, as it would mean a de-escalation of Trump’s dumb and illegal trade war, Tesla is still going to have major brand issues due to Musk’s backing of Trump and him saying some foolish things like “Canada is not a real country.”
All of those factors add to Tesla’s aging and limited lineup, which too heavily relies on Model Y, which had a refresh that wasn’t significant enough to revitalize sales.
It’s really hard to be optimistic about Tesla right now.
In Canada, Tesla currently has some inventory of the new Model Y, which it managed to secure before the tariffs. If you’re interested in a Cybertruck, there are plenty available. Although, I have a feeling that you are better off waiting a bit as I assume prices will come down.
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![Here's a closer look at Kia's low-cost EV2 [Video]](https://i0.wp.com/electrek.co/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/05/Kia-EV2-closer-look.jpeg?resize=1200,628&quality=82&strip=all&ssl=1)
Kia’s smallest and most affordable EV is already creating quite the buzz. The EV2 will sit below the EV3 in Kia’s expanding EV lineup. With its official launch approaching, the Kia EV2 was spotted on public roads, giving us a closer look at the upcoming electric SUV.
Take a closer look at the Kia EV2 caught on public roads
Although the EV2 will likely only be around 4,000 mm (157″) long, Kia promises it won’t feel so small when you’re actually in it.
Last month, we got a sneak peek of the interior at Milan Design Week. During an exclusive event, Kia showcased the EV2 concept and revealed a few new details we can expect to see.
Kia designed the EV2’s interior to be a relaxing retreat from the city’s hustle and bustle, sort of like a porch or balcony. Thanks to its flat floor layout, the SUV offers flexible seating. By folding the second-row seats and pushing the front seats forward, the EV2 offers an open space to stretch out or “enjoy a meal,” according to Kia.
Although no other details were offered, like Kia’s newer EVs, you can expect to see its new ccNC panoramic infotainment system with dual 12.3″ driver and navigation screens.
After the EV2 was spotted driving on public roads, we are getting a better look at Kia’s upcoming electric SUV. The video from ShortsCar reveals a front-end design similar to that of the EV3, EV5, and EV9, featuring its signature vertical daytime running lights (DRLs) and Star Map lightning.
Despite its small size, the EV2 has a surprisingly large presence on the road, thanks to its upright stance and broad wheel arches, reminiscent of the larger EV9.
A production version of the EV2 was also spotted in Germany this week, with its European debut just around the corner. The images by SH Proshots (via TheKoreanCarBlog) show a similar design to the model caught driving in Korea.
Kia will launch the EV2 in Europe and other regions in early 2026. Prices and final specs will be revealed closer to then, but the EV2 is expected to arrive with a WLTP range of around 300 miles (483 km). Smaller battery options could offer less range at a lower price.
Since it’s slated to sit below the EV3, which is 4,300 mm (169″) long, the EV2 is expected to be closer to 4,000 mm (157″) in length.
Like Kia’s other electric vehicles, it will be based on Hyundai’s E-GMP platform, which also underpins its IONIQ series.
Kia’s CEO, Ho-Sung Song, told Autocar that the company plans to launch the EV2 in the UK with prices starting at about £25,000 ($32,000). Since that was a few years ago, plans could have changed. We will learn more soon. Check back for the latest.
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