2026 Event Schedule

Data Centers that rely on new build power plants will find the easiest path by "going to the source" and locating in geographies with abundant local energy resources. Reduction in delivery risk / basis differential / curtailment, reduction in wait-times for grid interconnection, and enhanced local community benefits and acceptance, can all be achieved in areas that embody elite production, storage and delivery opportunities. In the best areas of the USA (South Central USA), overbuilding wind and solar relative to the size of a data center can achieve run times of 85% directly on as-available wind and solar, with surpluses feeding hydrogen production facilities capable of fueling co-located dispatchable generation units the other 15% of the time. Suitable geology to make low-cost salt caverns to store gas is the essential co-location ingredient enabling this opportunity. This talk will provide a case study (based on Texas Panhandle) that considers the 100% Clean Firm option (using hydrogen as needed) relative to other scenarios using various levels of natural gas. The range of technologies utilized (wind, solar, gas-fueled generation, BESS, salt cavern storage, and hydrogen production) are all bankable technologies that in combination can achieve attractive pricing and robust reliability.