PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE
With artificial intelligence (AI) driving unprecedented growth in data centres and significantly increasing power demand, SgurrEnergy, a global renewable energy engineering consultancy with over 23 years of expertise, hosted a virtual panel discussion on “The Future of Data Center Energy: Addressing Round-the-Clock Power Requirements Through Renewables, Regulation, and Innovative Financing.” The discussion brought together industry experts to examine how renewable energy, storage technologies and innovative financing models can help build reliable 24×7 green power for the next generation of digital infrastructure. The session featured Arif Aga, director; Nazish Shaikh, associate director and Jawwad Aga, associate manager.
Opening the discussion, the speakers highlighted that the rapid rise of artificial intelligence is fundamentally reshaping how renewable energy must be planned, procured and delivered for modern data centres. Beyond increasing electricity demand, AI workloads are concentrating large, continuous power requirements at specific grid locations, creating new engineering and infrastructure challenges. While conventional server racks typically consume between 5 and 10 kW, AI-enabled racks can require over 100 kW, significantly increasing power density, heat loads and cooling requirements. The speakers noted that meeting this demand requires a shift from conventional power procurement towards integrated energy system planning that combines generation, storage, grid infrastructure and intelligent energy management.
A key theme of the discussion was the distinction between annual renewable energy matching and true 24×7 carbon-free electricity. The speakers explained that while many organisations claim to operate on 100 per cent renewable energy by offsetting annual electricity consumption, mission-critical infrastructure such as data centres still depends on conventional grid power whenever renewable generation is unavailable. The next evolution of renewable procurement, they noted, is hourly carbon-free energy, where every hour of electricity consumption is matched with clean power available during that same hour, providing a far more meaningful measure of operational decarbonisation and energy resilience.
The speakers emphasised that the most practical pathway to achieving reliable 24×7 green power lies in an integrated energy ecosystem combining solar PV, wind generation, battery energy storage systems (BESS), grid support infrastructure and intelligent energy management. Solar delivers cost-effective daytime generation, wind complements evening and seasonal demand, battery storage shifts renewable energy to periods of lower generation, while advanced forecasting and real-time controls enhance overall system reliability. Rather than viewing renewable procurement as a standalone power purchase agreement, the speakers highlighted that operators should treat energy as an engineered system where generation, storage, transmission and operational intelligence work together to deliver dependable clean power.
Energy storage and cooling technologies also emerged as key discussion areas. The speakers stressed that while battery energy storage will become central to enabling reliable 24×7 renewable power, long-term performance depends on engineering quality rather than battery capacity alone. Effective thermal management remains critical, with every 10°C increase in battery operating temperature capable of reducing lithium-ion battery life by nearly half. Immersion cooling technologies, meanwhile, can extend battery life by approximately 20 per cent, improving asset longevity, operational reliability and overall project economics.
The session also examined the commercial viability of round-the-clock renewable energy procurement. The speakers explained that renewable power can be highly competitive when projects are structured appropriately through open-access or captive procurement models. However, regulatory charges, grid tariffs and market design continue to play a significant role in determining the delivered cost of electricity. While open-access solar power typically costs between INR 4 and 5 per unit compared with INR 8.5 to 10 per unit for conventional grid electricity, cross-subsidy surcharges and related charges can reduce this advantage under standard third-party PPAs. A group captive procurement model, where data centre operators invest in and source electricity directly from dedicated renewable projects, can significantly improve project economics, increasing savings to nearly 37 percent compared with approximately 13 per cent under conventional third-party PPAs.
