Emerald AI, Google and Nvidia form alliance to promote grid-flexible AI data centers

The group argues that facilities able to cut or shift demand when the grid is strained, using on-site generation, storage or changes to computing workloads, should be able to connect to the grid sooner. According to Nvidia's announcement, the alliance will favor technology-neutral, performance-based requirements covering how fast and for how long a site can respond, how predictable the response is and how it behaves in emergencies. Frank Lacey, described in the release as an energy industry executive, will serve as executive director.

The other launch partners named in the release are Analog Devices, Calibrant Energy, Camus, ClearPath, Encoord, Fluence, Generate Capital, GridUnity, PassKey, Splight, Verrus and Voltus. The release gave no capacity targets or timeline.

In a Fortune commentary published the same day, Emerald AI chief executive Varun Sivaram wrote that his company and Nvidia have completed six demonstrations of flexible data centers and plan, with Digital Realty, to switch on a nearly 100-megawatt power-flexible facility in Virginia later this year. He also cited a Duke University estimate that flexible data centers could tap about 100 gigawatts of existing U.S. grid capacity.