AI energy draw from Chicago datacenters to rise ninefold
(2024/04/19)
- Reference: 1713542409
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2024/04/19/ai_set_to_drive_up/
- Source link:
US energy provider Exelon has calculated that power demand from datacenters in the Chicago area is set to increase ninefold, in more evidence that AI adoption is will put further strain electricity supplies.
The utility giant revealed there are about 25 datacenter projects planned in the area around Chicago that would consume an estimated 5 GW of power, according to a report from [1]Bloomberg .
That runaway datacenter power grab is the best news for net zero this century [2]READ MORE
Exelon expects about 80 percent of those will actually reach completion, which would still be 4 GW of power consumption, compared with about 400 MW of demand from bit barns that the company said is the current situation.
This was disclosed by Exelon CEO Calvin Butler during an interview at the S&P Global Power Markets Conference in Las Vegas this week.
“We are seeing quite a bit of activity,” Butler said. The company, however, did not disclose when this new demand would hit the grid, and maintained it would continue to ensure its infrastructure will be able handle the growth in load.
[3]
The hike in demand would not immediately lead to more power generation, with the new datacenters initially served by excess capacity from the regional grid, imported electricity from other areas, and only then would Exelon resort to building out fresh electricity generation sources.
[4]
[5]
The state of Illinois is pitching itself as a top global datacenter location, with economic development organization [6]Intersect Illinois claiming Chicago is tied with Dallas as the third-largest bit barn hotspot in the US. Some 4.8 million square feet (445,934 sqm) of data hall space is already in operation, with another 2.2 million square feet (204,386 sqm) in the pipeline, it said.
Demand for AI is already the cause of a surge in datacenter expansion globally. This week it was revealed that Microsoft plans to [7]significantly ramp up the rate at which it adds new capacity in anticipation of more customers wanting to run generative AI projects.
[8]
[9]Synergy Research Group also reported that it has taken just four years for the total capacity of bit barns operated by hyperscalers to double worldwide, and that capacity is set to double again within the next four years.
[10]Arm CEO warns AI's power appetite could devour 25% of US electricity by 2030
[11]Microsoft, OpenAI may be dreaming of $100B 5GW AI 'Stargate' supercomputer
[12]As AI booms, land near nuclear power plants becomes hot real estate
[13]Google searches for boss to get grip on climate, energy costs of this AI hype cycle
[14]Water worries flood in as chip industry and AI models grow thirstier
This is leading to growing concern that the AI-fueled increase in energy consumption by datacenters is putting pressure on electricity grids. According to the [15]Financial Times , Ireland, Germany, and Singapore have all have introduced restrictions on new bit barn builds in recent years.
The head of the UK's National Grid warned that [16]datacenter power consumption in Britain is on track to grow 500 percent over the next decade.
The Register also reported recently that [17]datacenter power issues in Ireland are causing cloud operators such as AWS to ration the compute resources that customers can use. ®
Get our [18]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-04-18/ai-driven-power-demand-is-set-to-jump-900-in-chicago-area-exelon-ceo-says
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2024/01/29/the_datacenter_runaway_power_grab/
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZiLpeKJkTn8Y9nKBaNU1EgAAAEQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZiLpeKJkTn8Y9nKBaNU1EgAAAEQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZiLpeKJkTn8Y9nKBaNU1EgAAAEQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.intersectillinois.org/news/illinois-excels-as-top-5-global-data-center-destination/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2024/04/18/microsoft_datacenter_capacity/
[8] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZiLpeKJkTn8Y9nKBaNU1EgAAAEQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[9] https://www.srgresearch.com/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2024/04/09/ai_datacenters_unsustainable/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2024/04/01/microsoft_openai_5gw_dc/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/25/ai_boom_nuclear/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/12/google_job_ad_and_alphabet/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2024/02/29/growing_water_use_ai_semis_concern/
[15] https://www.ft.com/content/53accefd-eca7-47f2-a51e-c32f3ab51ad5
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/27/ceo_of_uks_national_grid/
[17] https://www.theregister.com/2024/04/09/aws_resource_restrictions/
[18] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
The utility giant revealed there are about 25 datacenter projects planned in the area around Chicago that would consume an estimated 5 GW of power, according to a report from [1]Bloomberg .
That runaway datacenter power grab is the best news for net zero this century [2]READ MORE
Exelon expects about 80 percent of those will actually reach completion, which would still be 4 GW of power consumption, compared with about 400 MW of demand from bit barns that the company said is the current situation.
This was disclosed by Exelon CEO Calvin Butler during an interview at the S&P Global Power Markets Conference in Las Vegas this week.
“We are seeing quite a bit of activity,” Butler said. The company, however, did not disclose when this new demand would hit the grid, and maintained it would continue to ensure its infrastructure will be able handle the growth in load.
[3]
The hike in demand would not immediately lead to more power generation, with the new datacenters initially served by excess capacity from the regional grid, imported electricity from other areas, and only then would Exelon resort to building out fresh electricity generation sources.
[4]
[5]
The state of Illinois is pitching itself as a top global datacenter location, with economic development organization [6]Intersect Illinois claiming Chicago is tied with Dallas as the third-largest bit barn hotspot in the US. Some 4.8 million square feet (445,934 sqm) of data hall space is already in operation, with another 2.2 million square feet (204,386 sqm) in the pipeline, it said.
Demand for AI is already the cause of a surge in datacenter expansion globally. This week it was revealed that Microsoft plans to [7]significantly ramp up the rate at which it adds new capacity in anticipation of more customers wanting to run generative AI projects.
[8]
[9]Synergy Research Group also reported that it has taken just four years for the total capacity of bit barns operated by hyperscalers to double worldwide, and that capacity is set to double again within the next four years.
[10]Arm CEO warns AI's power appetite could devour 25% of US electricity by 2030
[11]Microsoft, OpenAI may be dreaming of $100B 5GW AI 'Stargate' supercomputer
[12]As AI booms, land near nuclear power plants becomes hot real estate
[13]Google searches for boss to get grip on climate, energy costs of this AI hype cycle
[14]Water worries flood in as chip industry and AI models grow thirstier
This is leading to growing concern that the AI-fueled increase in energy consumption by datacenters is putting pressure on electricity grids. According to the [15]Financial Times , Ireland, Germany, and Singapore have all have introduced restrictions on new bit barn builds in recent years.
The head of the UK's National Grid warned that [16]datacenter power consumption in Britain is on track to grow 500 percent over the next decade.
The Register also reported recently that [17]datacenter power issues in Ireland are causing cloud operators such as AWS to ration the compute resources that customers can use. ®
Get our [18]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-04-18/ai-driven-power-demand-is-set-to-jump-900-in-chicago-area-exelon-ceo-says
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2024/01/29/the_datacenter_runaway_power_grab/
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZiLpeKJkTn8Y9nKBaNU1EgAAAEQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZiLpeKJkTn8Y9nKBaNU1EgAAAEQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZiLpeKJkTn8Y9nKBaNU1EgAAAEQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.intersectillinois.org/news/illinois-excels-as-top-5-global-data-center-destination/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2024/04/18/microsoft_datacenter_capacity/
[8] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZiLpeKJkTn8Y9nKBaNU1EgAAAEQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[9] https://www.srgresearch.com/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2024/04/09/ai_datacenters_unsustainable/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2024/04/01/microsoft_openai_5gw_dc/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/25/ai_boom_nuclear/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/12/google_job_ad_and_alphabet/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2024/02/29/growing_water_use_ai_semis_concern/
[15] https://www.ft.com/content/53accefd-eca7-47f2-a51e-c32f3ab51ad5
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/27/ceo_of_uks_national_grid/
[17] https://www.theregister.com/2024/04/09/aws_resource_restrictions/
[18] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Two
Boris the Cockroach
Hinkley point C power stations
Just to give you an idea.
thats over and above the number of stations needed to replace our current nuclear stations.
At which point someone will say "why exactly do we need these AI models?"
Re: Two
Peter2
Hinkley point C is 3.2GW; so 2x would be 6.4GW rather than just 5GW to be fair.
However, yes it's a stupid amount of power to be using for something that's not really required. The simple answer would be something like the cigarette taxes; tax the electricity bill to 500% to encourage a new interest in not wasting huge amounts of power. And if it is profitable at that sort of price then it will at least pay for the power plants and infrastructure required.
Re: Two
Doctor Syntax
Tax AI use. And for good measure, tax all cryptocurrency transactions at 200% of their value.
Bit barns in Chitown?
chivo243
That's a lot of cooling needed in the summer months. I was there in the summer of '88, aka among some friends, the "Hot and Tired" summer. That extreme seems to now be the norm. Will the gear be able to create enough heat in the whole datacenter for Chicago's cold snaps?
"industry is exploring nuclear as an alternative"
Good. Anything that will decrease the insane amount of coal plants that we are collectively using is a Good Thing in my book.
Please base them on Thorium, for added safety and availability.