Power Generation Architecture for Data Centers

We would like to learn how large-scale infrastructure users – particularly data centers – are assessing and selecting power generation technologies to meet their evolving power needs, with a focus on the role of diesel, natural gas, and alternative power sources in current and future energy strategies. Specifically, we are seeking perspectives from power consumers, grid operators, EPCs, and competing technology providers. We want to understand how data center operators and builders are currently thinking about their power generation architecture. Specifically, the balance between diesel backup, on-site prime power (including natural gas), and long-term reliance on grid infrastructure. We are interested in where they see diesel remaining durable as a backup source versus where natural gas or other technologies are already being planned as the primary path forward. We also want to understand the real-world constraints on grid infrastructure buildout, particularly around transformer availability, transmission capacity, and the pace at which grid reliability can realistically improve, and how those constraints are shaping near- and long-term power investment decisions.
On the competing technology side, we are seeking perspectives from natural gas power providers and gas turbine players, as well as select alternative technology companies (e.g., BESS, SMR), to understand how they are positioning against diesel and where they believe the technology transitions will occur first, fastest, and most durably.