ISSN 2753-7757 (Online)

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Data centres

Head and shoulders photo of man standing against a white background filled with columns of binary numbers, zeros and ones

2/9/2025 Comment / Jon Healy

How data centres can become allies in the net zero heat transition

Data centres are hungry for energy and produce large volumes of ‘waste’ heat. Energy efficiency key is to make use of that heat locally, writes Jon Healy, Managing Director (EMEA), of data centre services provider Salute.

Data centres

Four women in hi-vis jackets on site at data centre

24/9/2025 News

US big tech deals boost UK’s AI ambitions

Several big tech investments were revealed under a new UK-US Tech Prosperity Deal during President Donald Trump’s state visit last week. Among them were Google selecting Shell as its renewable energy manager in the UK and Microsoft announcing its largest financial commitment in the country to date. Meanwhile, a new study suggests microgrids will be key to accelerating future data centre growth in Europe.

Data centres

Head and shoulders photo of Ali Ruckteschler with house wall and green plants behind her

24/9/2025 Comment / Ali Ruckteschler

Why data centres are betting on fuel cells and nuclear to power the AI era

Ali Ruckteschler, Senior Vice President & Chief Procurement Officer with US data centre operator Equinix, on how the growth of AI is leading one US company to turn to fuel cells, initially, and a new generation of nuclear technologies to meet future power needs.

Data centres

Rows of large, dark black mainframe computers with blue lights, lined up in darkened room

EI Member only

22/6/2026 Feature / Kristy Jooste

From energy sink to energy source: why data centres must bring their own flexibility

As AI drives a surge in electricity demand, grid operators are increasingly asking data centre developers to provide their own flexibility. Speakers at the recent Innovation Zero event argued that batteries, virtual power plants and new operating models could transform data centres from passive consumers into active participants in the electricity system. Kristy Jooste, Senior Content Officer, Energy Institute, reports.

Gas turbines

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25/3/2026 Feature / Toby Clark

Recycling aeroengines for data centre power now

While some AI firms are investing long term in renewables and modular nuclear plants, the speed of the AI rollout inevitably creates bottlenecks in local planning restrictions and infrastructure. This is where gas turbine generators come in, as an easily deployed source of reliable electricity. And the place to find a surplus gas turbine is underneath a jet wing, writes Toby Clark.

Data centres

View down two rows of data centre computer racks to left and right of image, lit up with blue lighting

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11/6/2025 Feature / Brian Davis

What are the risks associated with data centre growth?

Artificial intelligence (AI) demands large amounts of data and power. And the demand is rising. But what does this mean in terms of energy consumption? Where are the new data centres likely to be located, and what will be the associated costs and risks? These and other issues were addressed in the Aurora Energy Research spring forum held in London last month. New Energy World Features Editor Brian Davis reports on a keynote session, ‘Navigating data centre growth: Beyond the hype’, presented by Richard Howard, Global Research Director.

Grid management

Looking down a between a row of two long banks of large mainframe computer units

EI Member only

15/5/2026 Feature / Melissa Stark,Linda Capuano,Jessica Gillispie,Christopher Pham,Mary Wolf

How hyperscalers are changing the electricity system

To better understand the impact to the electricity system of the gigawatt-scale loads that hyperscalers are introducing to electricity grids, Rice University, Texas, MBA students Jessica Gillispie, Christopher Pham and Mary Wolf, and professors Melissa Stark FEI and Linda Capuano researched the impact of hyperscale loads in three US regional transmission operators: ERCOT (Texas), PJM (mid-Atlantic) and SPP (Midwest).

Artificial Intelligence

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24/9/2025 Feature / Toby Clark

How much energy does AI actually consume?

There are serious concerns about the energy consumption of AI systems – in particular large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT. We know they use a lot of energy during training – the process by which the millions or billions of parameters in the model ingest and analyse data. Apparently, training OpenAI’s GPT-4 (with well over a trillion parameters) consumed over 50 GWh of electricity. Toby Clark asks, how much energy do they use to answer your queries?

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