HVDC, Data Centers, and the Race to Build the Grid of the Future

The Week That Was: March 28 - April 4, 2025

Apr 06, 2025

NOTE: “The Week That Was” is a recap of ideas shared over the last seven days.

What got my attention in 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙒𝙚𝙚𝙠 𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙒𝙖𝙨?

Transmission was in focus. The need for more is taken as a given, but how fast we can build transmission? And under what conditions do need (or not need) to accelerate? Meanwhile, HVDC is having a moment, and retiring coal plants may find new life as prime real estate for data centers.

𝗗𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲? The NREL study provides a host of scenarios that help frame the discussion. Under what scenarios does the pace 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗡𝗢𝗧 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲?
𝗪𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻, but 𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗮 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆. 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁? 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗯𝗲 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱?
𝗛𝗩𝗗𝗖 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝗵𝗼𝘁. The changing generation mix (read: 𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗶𝗱 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘄𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲𝘀) has put additional premia on the strengths of HVDC transmission. Need proof? Some of the most notable transmission projects in the US are HVDC projects.
𝗜𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗸𝗲𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁? Coal power sites have many attractive attributes for data center siting - 𝗲𝘅𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗿𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲, 𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝘃𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲𝘀 - and make retiring coal plants a attractive target for redevelopment.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀, 𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗮𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗮𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸? Please share in the comments for all of us!

Have a great week!

Articles