The National Grid will trial the use of technology that promises to allow artificial intelligence (AI) data centres to flexibly adjust how much power they use from the grid, as part of efforts to reduce the potential strain these capabilities place on Britain’s power supplies.
The organisation responsible for generating, transmitting and distributing energy across the UK is working with Emerald AI to test how AI Datacentres can support a smarter and more resilient grid during a live trial later this year.
National Grid’s innovation and investment arm National Grid Partners has also made a “strategic investment” in Emerald AI as part of this technology tie-up, it has emerged.
The partnership will see the pair use the Emerald AI management platform, which allows AI data centres to adjust how much energy they draw from the grid based on the work they are doing, to see if it is possible to better utilise the existing capacity of the National Grid to power server farms.
The live trial will also use NVIDIA graphics processing units (GPUs) to dynamically adjust power consumption and support grid stability, demonstrating how the power consumption of a wide range of AI workloads can be adjusted in real time. For example, by changing the type of compute activity occurring in the data center when the grid is under stress.
“The electricity transmission network is designed with built-in redundancy to provide world-class reliability and keep the lights on for customers. Capacity is typically available during off-peak events, such as hot summer days or cold winter storms, when there is high demand for cooling and heating,” the national grid said.
“This means that in many cases there is room on the existing grid to connect new data centers if they can temporarily reduce power consumption during periods of peak demand.”
It is hoped that the trial will give National Grid greater insight into how it can balance the increasing demands placed on the nation’s energy supply by DataCentres without unnecessarily instigating new energy infrastructure.
“By increasing the use of existing electricity infrastructure, National Grid, working closely with the National Energy System Operator, can better manage growing demand, leverage investment in advanced computing and support the UK’s transition to a more efficient and resilient energy system,” National Grid said.
Steve Smith, National Grid’s chief strategy and regulatory officer, said that as the UK’s digital economy continues to grow, so does the need to unlock new ways to flexibly manage the country’s energy supplies, while adding new data centres to the grid.
“This groundbreaking trial with Emerald AI shows how innovative technologies can help us optimise the grid, enabling increased investment in advanced computing and delivering real benefits to the wider UK economy,” said Smith.
“We look forward to working with Emerald AI and other partners as we advance this project, exploring how smart solutions can support economic growth and the country’s future connectivity needs.”
VARUN SIVARAM, founder and CEO of Emerald AI, said the partnership should also demonstrate that AI data centers don’t have to be a network burden, but can also be a critical benefit.
“Together with the National Grid, we are demonstrating that flexible AI factories can accelerate AI innovation in the UK, while improving reliability and availability for everyone connected to the grid,” said Sivaram.
