EPRI, OCP aim to advance DCs as flexible grid resources

Author: Joe Peck

EPRI (the Electric Power Research Institute), an independent, non-profit energy research and development organisation, and the Open Compute Project (OCP), a non-profit organisation that develops and shares open hardware standards and designs for data centre infrastructure, have announced a collaboration focused on developing data centres as flexible resources for power systems.

The initiative aims to support digital infrastructure growth while improving how data centres interact with electricity networks, particularly as demand increases from artificial intelligence and other compute-intensive workloads.

By working together, the organisations intend to support improved integration between data centres and power systems while developing technical frameworks to enable more flexible operation.

Arshad Mansoor, President and CEO of EPRI, comments, “We’re in the midst of an energy revolution, and it must be smart, flexible, and innovative to keep rates affordable for customers across the globe.

“Through this collaboration with OCP, EPRI is combining rigorous power system science with open, scalable data centre innovation to advance practical solutions that enable data centres to operate as flexible, grid-supporting resources – strengthening reliability and affordability for all.”

Developing flexible data centre energy models

The collaboration brings together stakeholders across the energy and data centre sectors, including a European group involving DCFlex, National Grid, NESO, PPC, RTE, and RWE.

This group is working to develop frameworks that reflect operational requirements, with a focus on improving resilience and scalability as data centre capacity expands.

Activities include work on shared standards, testing environments, and implementation guidance for flexible data centre operations.

Zane Ball, Chief Technology Officer at OCP, notes, “With a growing member base and top-tier data centre expertise coming together with a single vision, our collaboration creates opportunities for harmonised standards, shared testing environments, and coordinated guidance for implementing flexible, resilient, and affordable data centre solutions.”

EPRI says it is also supporting the work through field demonstrations at data centres in Europe and the United States, exploring flexible load approaches that could support grid stability and reduce barriers to connection.