Batteries could be the catalyst for the next phase of the AI boom
Source：pv magazine
AI is pushing the limits of data center power capacity and many see clean energy as key to meeting the demand. For one Big Tech veteran, however, the missing ingredient that could successfully satiate AI’s hunger isn’t power generation: it’s energy storage.
“The challenge with using solar or wind systems for data center applications is unreliable power,” Yuval Bachar, the founder and CEO of data center startup EdgeCloudLink (ECL), told ESS News during a site visit. Data center operators must be able to ensure reliability, he explained, and “batteries are the control layer that let us do that and allow everything else to scale.”
In his eyes, that control function could shape the next generation of data center design.
While Bachar spent decades building hardware architecture at companies like Microsoft, LinkedIn, Facebook and Cisco, he’s now focused on how energy and sustainability fit into the AI puzzle. Successfully scaling renewable-powered AI requires a mindset shift around power delivery, he said, rather than solely chasing incremental efficiency gains.
At ECL’s 1 MW off-grid pilot site in Mountain View, CA, that looks like a Tesla Megapack paired with onsite hydrogen fuel cells and electrolysers. The fuel cells are flashy, but it’s the battery that makes the system tick by shaping demand, providing ride-through for hydrogen systems and enabling modularity that avoids costly redesigns.
“We build blocks that can be scaled out, not up,” Bachar explained, adding that ECL plans to power “at least one” of their sites with a behind-the-meter solar plant.
“Without batteries, that wouldn’t work,” he added. Still, he cautioned that it’s important not to overlook how complicated the grid side of the story is.
Between distribution, transmission, supply chain snafus and more, managing the grid is complex at best, Bachar said, and “people dramatically underestimate that.”
“Setting up your data center as an off-grid microgrid needs to be much more discussed, especially as states are trying to shut off data centers during peak times,” he said in reference to Texas’ recently passed Senate Bill 6, which allows the state to curtail large loads during firm loadshedding events.
“Going off-grid means something like that wouldn’t touch you, and that makes you stronger, Bachar added.
That off-grid potential is also where batteries could provide the final spark to get new centers online. By anchoring microgrids that combine on-site renewables and fuel cells, batteries allow developers to scale without waiting years for transmission upgrades or interconnection queues.
They also provide the fast response needed to smooth fuel cell startup and optimize local renewable generation.
The economics aren’t far behind, though Bachar noted that “now is the time for data center owners to be disruptive” with their energy choices, particularly as pairing batteries with hydrogen enables lower carbon, more efficient electricity delivery.
Bachar cited levelized costs of roughly six cents per kilowatt-hour when combining batteries with hydrogen, with significant reductions in both capex and opex compared to conventional builds. From his perspective, the addition of batteries makes distributed, high-reliability microgrids technically and commercially viable at data center scale.
“That looks like a 30-35% cost reduction for customers,” he noted, “and customers get a zero-emission, low-water and sustainable AI data center.”
The risk, he warns, is that the sector prioritizes speed over resilience.
“We need to bring sustainability back into the center of the discussion,” Bachar said. The growth has been so explosive, he explained, that sustainability became second to time. “What we build now will stay here until 2045, and we better do it right.”