Date-centers create risks to US power grid

< IMG SRC = "/Uploads/Blogs/4a/6f/IB-FR3AVM4CN_15237c6f.jpg" Alt = "Date-Centers create risks for US power grid"/> ~ ~ ~ ~ < P > In July last year in Fairfax, Virginia, known as & laquo; Date-Center Date & raquo; < p > reports Reuters.

< P > About 60 Data Centers serving Giants such as Microsoft, Google and Amazon suddenly disconnected from the network and switched to backup generators. This happened through the standard equipment protection mechanism against voltage fluctuations.

< P > However, the consequences were serious: sudden excess of electricity forced PJM network operator and local Dominion Energy company to reduce production at power plants to avoid infrastructure overload.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ < p >According to John Mouri, the director of reliability of the North American Electrical Reliability Corporation (NERC), similar mass shutdowns can lead to cascading accidents in the region.

~ ~ < p >< strong > Risks for the power system

< P > The incidents of this scale are becoming more and more frequent due to the rapid increase in the number of date centers and their energy consumption. According to the US Department of Energy, electricity consumption of the Date Centers has tripled over the last decade and can increase three times again by 2028.

~ < p > similar & laquo; almost emergency & raquo; Situations are not only recorded in Virginia. In December 2022 in Texas, due to the malfunction of the transformer, about 400 objects, including cryptofers and oil and gas enterprises, were switched off at the same time. < p > This led to an excess of 1700 megawatts of electricity & mdash; equivalent of 5% total demand for state energy.

< p >NERC predicts that the risks of energy deficits in the United States will increase over the next 5 & ndash; 10 years. Regulators urge to upgrade reliability standards for date centers and cryptoferms to avoid similar situations in the future.

< P >< Strong > US before difficult choice: network protection or equipment 0 ~/p > < P > most Date Centers are set up to automatically move to local generators with the smallest problems on the network. This avoids damage to sensitive equipment but creates significant difficulties for power supply operators.

< P > Some experts propose to oblige the date-centers to stay connected to the network even during short-term voltage fluctuations. But such an initiative causes resistance from the data centers of data centers.

< P > For example, the Data Center Coalition Coalition, which includes Amazon, Google and Meta, states that it can damage the equipment and shorten its service life.

< P > Experts emphasize the need to find a compromise between the interests of energy and operators of the Date Centers. Jim Simonelli from Schneider Electric notes: & laquo; the industry of the Date Centers has not yet learned to be friendly to the energy networks & raquo;.

~ ~ ~ > 62 > 62 > < P > Given the rapid expansion of computing capacities for artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency mining, the problem will only be exacerbated. If regulators do not find an effective solution, it can lead to serious consequences for US energy stability.