How virtual power plants could provide energy for data centers
How virtual power plants could provide energy for data centers
虚拟电厂如何为数据中心提供能源
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Would you take a payment to ramp down your electricity use? Would it change anything if you were doing so to help power a local data center? Google just signed a new deal to help pay for a virtual power plant (VPP) in the largest power grid in the US. The agreement is with Voltus, a leading VPP and distributed energy resources platform. Voltus will set up the virtual power plant, grouping together devices like electric vehicles and smart thermostats. It’ll pay customers to participate, and the company will dial back power or use the stored energy during times when the grid is stressed. Google will foot the bill for setting it up, and the extra capacity generated by the project will help run its data centers in the region.
执行摘要 如果给你一笔报酬，让你减少用电量，你愿意吗？如果这样做是为了帮助当地的数据中心供电，你会改变主意吗？谷歌刚刚签署了一项新协议，资助美国最大电网中的一个虚拟电厂（VPP）。该协议的合作方是领先的虚拟电厂和分布式能源资源平台 Voltus。Voltus 将负责组建这个虚拟电厂，将电动汽车和智能恒温器等设备整合在一起。它会向参与的用户支付报酬，并在电网负荷紧张时调低用电量或使用储存的能源。谷歌将承担建立该项目的费用，而项目产生的额外容量将用于支持其在当地的数据中心运行。
This is one of the most concrete examples so far of a tech giant using a VPP to help meet energy demand for data centers. But there are still some lingering questions about just how far this sort of program can go, and what the limits are. Last year, it felt as if everyone was talking about data center flexibility. A high-profile study from Duke University found that if data centers agreed to decrease their energy demand for roughly 40 hours per year, a whole bunch of them (about 100 gigawatts’ worth) could come online without making new power plants or transmission equipment necessary.
这是迄今为止科技巨头利用虚拟电厂满足数据中心能源需求最具体的案例之一。但关于此类项目究竟能走多远以及其局限性在哪里，仍存在一些悬而未决的问题。去年，似乎每个人都在谈论数据中心的灵活性。杜克大学一项备受瞩目的研究发现，如果数据中心同意每年减少约 40 小时的能源需求，那么大量数据中心（约 100 吉瓦的容量）就可以在无需新建发电厂或输电设备的情况下投入使用。
The underlying reason is that our power grid is designed not for our average energy use, but for the absolute maximum: the brutally hot July evening when everyone is blasting their air conditioners, watching Love Island, and microwaving popcorn. If a data center is willing to refrain from pulling so much power during those high-stress times, the grid can happily support it the rest of the year.
其根本原因在于，我们的电网设计并非基于平均用电量，而是基于绝对峰值：比如在七月酷热的夜晚，每个人都在开足马力吹空调、看电视节目《恋爱岛》并用微波炉爆爆米花的时候。如果数据中心愿意在这些高压时段减少用电，那么电网在一年中的其余时间里就能轻松支持其运行。
One lingering question here is about incentives: How would you get data centers to agree to this? After all, they might not have a very flexible load, especially now that AI use is more widespread—training a model can easily be delayed or shifted, but customer demand is more immediate. Giving up computing capacity could mean losing revenue. Regulation is one approach that could work here. One proposal in the US would allow new data centers to come online years sooner if they agree to lower demand when the grid is nearing its max. And a new Texas law requires large users to switch to backup power or curtail their demand in emergency situations.
这里遗留的一个问题是激励机制：如何让数据中心同意这样做？毕竟，它们的负载灵活性可能并不高，尤其是在人工智能应用日益广泛的今天——训练模型或许可以延迟或调整，但客户需求更为即时。放弃计算能力可能意味着收入损失。监管是此处可行的一种方法。美国的一项提案建议，如果新数据中心同意在电网接近峰值时降低需求，则允许其提前数年投入运营。此外，德克萨斯州的一项新法律要求大型用户在紧急情况下切换到备用电源或削减需求。
Another approach is for data center operators to pay for other people to be flexible. Voltus announced a new program in September that allows data centers to finance flexibility on their local grid. The company calls it “Bring your own capacity.” Google is now the first named customer taking advantage of this program. In the new agreement, Voltus will pay people who agree to participate in the virtual power plant. The plant will be part of PJM, the grid that covers much of the US East Coast. The company says it will be able to aggregate up to 100 megawatts of distributed energy resources each year. The plant should be operational in 2027, according to Voltus.
另一种方法是让数据中心运营商付费，让其他人提供灵活性。Voltus 在九月宣布了一项新计划，允许数据中心为其当地电网的灵活性提供资金。该公司将其称为“自带容量”（Bring your own capacity）。谷歌现在是首个利用该计划的知名客户。根据新协议，Voltus 将向同意参与虚拟电厂的人支付报酬。该电厂将成为 PJM 电网的一部分，该电网覆盖了美国东海岸的大部分地区。该公司表示，每年将能够整合高达 100 兆瓦的分布式能源。据 Voltus 称，该电厂预计将于 2027 年投入运营。
This isn’t Google’s first foray into flexibility; the company has agreements with utilities across the US to limit or shift its own energy demand, which can help free up grid capacity. As the company pointed out in a blog post earlier this year, though, there are limits on how flexible a data center can be, and not every facility will be able to ramp down its power demand. “There is no one solution for expanding grid capacity and we’re continuing to explore all options, including the many avenues for load flexibility,” said Michael Terrell, Google’s global head of advanced energy, in an emailed statement in response to written questions.
这并非谷歌首次尝试灵活性方案；该公司与美国各地的公用事业公司签有协议，以限制或转移其自身的能源需求，这有助于释放电网容量。然而，正如该公司今年早些时候在一篇博客文章中所指出的，数据中心的灵活性是有限的，并非每个设施都能降低其电力需求。谷歌全球高级能源主管迈克尔·特雷尔（Michael Terrell）在回复书面提问的电子邮件声明中表示：“扩大电网容量没有单一的解决方案，我们正在继续探索所有选项，包括实现负载灵活性的多种途径。”
Once again, I’m wondering about incentives here. These companies are asking homes and businesses to be flexible. Will they agree? A recent study in California looked at local people’s willingness to participate in managed electric-vehicle charging. Essentially, the program pays people to give up control of when they charge their EVs. This is another way to help smooth out electricity demand and ease the burden on the grid. The problem? Not many people signed up. With no economic incentive, only 1% of EV owners enrolled in managed charging. At $40 per month (about 15% of their power bill), only 4.6% did.
我再次思考这里的激励问题。这些公司要求家庭和企业提供灵活性。他们会同意吗？加利福尼亚州最近的一项研究调查了当地居民参与受控电动汽车充电的意愿。本质上，该计划通过付费让人们放弃对电动汽车充电时间的控制。这是帮助平抑电力需求并减轻电网负担的另一种方式。问题在于，报名的人并不多。在没有经济激励的情况下，只有 1% 的电动汽车车主加入了受控充电计划。即使每月支付 40 美元（约占其电费的 15%），也只有 4.6% 的人参与。
This is a different situation and a different region from the one in which Google is working with Voltus. (It’s worth noting that the companies aren’t sharing how much they plan to pay the participants, which will obviously be a big determinant in participation for this kind of project.) But this study shows that even with money on the table, people may not always jump at the chance to cede control of their electricity demand. And it certainly feels relevant that about 70% of Americans oppose AI data centers in their area, according to recent Gallup polling.
这与谷歌和 Voltus 合作的情况及地区不同。（值得注意的是，这些公司并未透露计划向参与者支付多少费用，这显然是此类项目参与度的重要决定因素。）但这项研究表明，即使有金钱激励，人们也未必总是愿意放弃对用电需求的控制权。此外，根据盖洛普最近的民意调查，约 70% 的美国人反对在他们所在的地区建设人工智能数据中心，这一点显然也与之相关。
Being flexible sounds like a great idea in theory, and these financed VPPs could provide an immediate route to meeting energy demand. But as we move from idea to implementation, it’ll be interesting to see whether trial runs work as intended.
从理论上讲，提供灵活性听起来是个好主意，这些由资金支持的虚拟电厂可以提供满足能源需求的直接途径。但随着我们从构想走向实施，看看这些试点运行是否能达到预期效果，将是一件很有趣的事情。