Making data centers flexible so they can serve the grid rather than stress it out
About this episode
The episode discusses how Emerald AI's technology can make data centers more flexible to support the energy grid.
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.volts.wtf/subscribe Typically, AI data centers are large, inflexible loads that the grid has to build around, which is one reason utilities take so long to connect them. Emerald AI has designed a “digital brain” that can ramp down, move, or delay computing jobs in a data center on demand, making a data center a flexible asset to the grid. I talk with CEO Varun Sivaram about how the software works, what flexibility costs the compute, why it beats just installing batteries, whether utilities can enforce it, and what it would mean for clean energy. Chapters: 00:00 – Introduction 03:05 – Temporal, spatial, and resource flexibility 06:26 – What Emerald Conductor touches on site 08:35 – Who decides which workloads can flex 10:55 – Who is liable when a job slows down 13:45 – Who actually signs the contract 14:49 – Larger and faster grid connections 18:02 – Enforcing the flexibility promise 19:05 – What broke in the demos, from bad nodes to slow telemetry 26:41 – What flexing costs the compute jobs 29:21 – Why not just use batteries, and the demand merit order 35:44 –…
People in this episode
Host: David Roberts
Guest: Varun Sivaram
Topics covered
- data centers
- grid flexibility
- clean energy
- AI technology
- utility management
Keywords
- data centers
- flexibility
- Emerald AI
- clean energy
- utilities
- computing jobs
- battery alternatives
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Emerald AI, PJM, ERCOT
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