Going Grid-Independent to Satisfy AI Power and Cooling: Capstone Signs Microgrid MoU
On-site power manufacturer and supplier Capstone Green Energy is taking its first steps to team up with an artificial intelligence data center developer to provide grid-independent microgrids for AI-enabled, liquid-cooled computing facilities.
Capstone’s memorandum of understanding, signed with developer Microgrids 4 AI, Inc., is focused on the off-grid possibilities of microgrids for a new generation of energy intensive data centers. Microgrids 4 AI has been focused on edge data centers under 20 MW in capacity.
The work between Capstone Green Energy and the developer, when realized, will integrate localized, off-grid microgrids with advanced liquid cooling technology. Microgrids 4 AI was formed with leadership from veterans of digital infrastructure companies such as Dell, HPE, Intel, Micron, Equinix, Digital Realty Trust and Supermicro.
From kW to MW to GW: Data rack future
The focus of Microgrids 4 AI’s development is meeting the power needs of next-generation graphic processing units (GPUs). Many AI data center developers are concerned that utility-scale grid capacity may not keep up, considering that GPU racks are almost certainly more than doubling to densities of 1 MW per rack over the coming years.
“The future of AI will not be built on yesterday’s data centers. It demands innovative new infrastructure – where power, liquid cooling and compute converge as one, a complete kit,” said Ken Kajikawa, CEO of MG4AI, in a statement. “Together with Capstone, MG4AI is creating a new blueprint for AI: sovereign, sustainable and infinitely scalable (140kW today and scaling to 600kW per rack). We’re not just keeping pace with the AI revolution; we’re building the new foundation that makes next-generation AI infrastructure possible.”
Kajikawa has spent more than four decades working in the data center industry, including stints at Dell, HP, Digital Realty and Micron. His work earned a patent on Universal Serial Bus technology.
The predictions vary, but forecasters from Goldman Sachs to Deloitte and Wood Mackenzie all agree that data center and AI energy demand will grow more than 100 GW over the coming decade. The tech industry’s concerns over power resource adequacy is fueling movements to line up on-site prime power and strategically located interconnections.
Plotting all-of-the-above power resources beyond utility-scale
Some project developers are pursuing off-grid options to avoid long interconnection delays. Capstone will bring its own power and cooling package to the collaboration with Microgrids 4 AI.
“Artificial intelligence is one of the most energy-intensive applications and disruptive workloads of our time,” Vince Canino, president and CEO of Capstone Green Energy, said. “By aligning Capstone’s technology with MG4AI’s modular compute architecture, we are setting a new standard for speed, efficiency and sustainability in AI infrastructure deployments.”
Capstone provides gas-fired microturbines for commercial and industrial customers. In the plan for meeting energy needs of AI-enabled computing, the Capstone microturbines will integrate with advanced cooling technologies vital to data center operations, including chillers, dry coolers and pumping packages.
The microgrid combinations could include battery energy storage systems when needed, according to Capstone Green Energy.
The expected expansion of both AI data center growth and industrial electrification is pushing accelerated project development around numerous fuel resources. Some tech giants are shoring up long-term renewable power purchase agreements, while also working with energy firms on future natural gas-fired and even small, advanced nuclear reactors.
“The way to dominate the AI race (for the U.S.) is to build as much as you can of all types of generation,” Ryan Plaff, executive vice president at EDF Renewables North American, said during a key session at the RE+ conference in Las Vegas.
About the Author
Rod Walton, Microgrid Knowledge Managing Editor
Managing Editor
For Microgrid Knowledge editorial inquiries, please contact Managing Editor Rod Walton at [email protected].
I’ve spent the last 15 years covering the energy industry as a newspaper and trade journalist. I was an energy writer and business editor at the Tulsa World before moving to business-to-business media at PennWell Publishing, which later became Clarion Events, where I covered the electric power industry. I joined Endeavor Business Media in November 2021 to help launch EnergyTech, one of the company’s newest media brands. I joined Microgrid Knowledge in July 2023.
I earned my Bachelors degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma. My career stops include the Moore American, Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise, Wagoner Tribune and Tulsa World, all in Oklahoma . I have been married to Laura for the past 33-plus years and we have four children and one adorable granddaughter. We want the energy transition to make their lives better in the future.
Microgrid Knowledge and EnergyTech are focused on the mission critical and large-scale energy users and their sustainability and resiliency goals. These include the commercial and industrial sectors, as well as the military, universities, data centers and microgrids. The C&I sectors together account for close to 30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S.
Many large-scale energy users such as Fortune 500 companies, and mission-critical users such as military bases, universities, healthcare facilities, public safety and data centers, shifting their energy priorities to reach net-zero carbon goals within the coming decades. These include plans for renewable energy power purchase agreements, but also on-site resiliency projects such as microgrids, combined heat and power, rooftop solar, energy storage, digitalization and building efficiency upgrades.