Infrastructure startup has a plan to keep the data center lights on “…natural gas turbines, a multi-billion-dollar deal intended to provide power to data centers.”. Ireland we need to start thinking about energy and the implications of being the serfs in Techno Feudalism 

Posted on March 18, 2025 by michelleclarke2015
Infrastructure startup Crusoe has a plan to keep the data center lights on
Source:

UnsplashSpoiler alert: it involves natural gas. 

AI infrastructure startup Crusoe — which is already working with OpenAI on a Stargate data center in Texas — said it has secured access to 4.5 gigawatts of power, in the shape of seven gas-powered turbines, according to The Information. 

The details: San Francisco-based investment firm Engine No. 1 in January partnered with Chevron to secure seven GE Vernova natural gas turbines, a multi-billion-dollar deal intended to provide power to data centers. According to The Information, Crusoe is getting access to all of it. This comes amid a massive and persistent surge in data center electricity demands, not just to train GenAI models, but also to operate them. Demand, at this point, is outpacing production, contributing both to grid instability and carbon emissions. 

Data center operators, stymied by slow-moving utility companies, have been increasingly looking for ways to power themselves while they wait to come online; in this vein, most of the Big Tech lineup has inked deals with nuclear energy companies. In the interim, gas turbines — which pollute heavily — have become popular; they’re in use at Elon Musk’s xAI facility in Memphis. “Because of that step function increase in overall power demand, you really have to bring your own power,” Chase Lochmiller, CEO of Crusoe, told The Information. “There’s no other way for you to be able to achieve that scale that quickly

”Engine No. 1 and Crusoe are now working to identify sites where the turbines can be deployed, sites they can then sell to eager data center customers. 

Putting things in context: A single gigawatt — equivalent to one billion watts — is roughly enough energy to power 800,000 homes in the U.S., based on average numbers regarding electricity usage. We’re talking about a tremendous amount of power, allocated solely for consumption by AI companies. 
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About michelleclarke2015

Life event that changes all: Horse riding accident in Zimbabwe in 1993, a fractured skull et al including bipolar anxiety, chronic fatigue …. co-morbidities (Nietzche 'He who has the reason why can deal with any how' details my health history from 1993 to date). 17th 2017 August operation for breast cancer (no indications just an appointment came from BreastCheck through the Post). Trinity College Dublin Business Economics and Social Studies (but no degree) 1997-2003; UCD 1997/1998 night classes) essays, projects, writings. Trinity Horizon Programme 1997/98 (Centre for Women Studies Trinity College Dublin/St. Patrick's Foundation (Professor McKeon) EU Horizon funded: research study of 15 women (I was one of this group and it became the cornerstone of my journey to now 2017) over 9 mth period diagnosed with depression and their reintegration into society, with special emphasis on work, arts, further education; Notes from time at Trinity Horizon Project 1997/98; Articles written for Irishhealth.com 2003/2004; St Patricks Foundation monthly lecture notes for a specific period in time; Selection of Poetry including poems written by people I know; Quotations 1998-2017; other writings mainly with theme of social justice under the heading Citizen Journalism Ireland. Letters written to friends about life in Zimbabwe; Family history including Michael Comyn KC, my grandfather, my grandmother's family, the O'Donnellan ffrench Blake-Forsters; Moral wrong: An acrimonious divorce but the real injustice was the Catholic Church granting an annulment – you can read it and make your own judgment, I have mine. Topics I have written about include annual Brain Awareness week, Mashonaland Irish Associataion in Zimbabwe, Suicide (a life sentence to those left behind); Nostalgia: Tara Hill, Co. Meath.
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