Virginia Data Center News

Oct 6, 2025 · Information Technology and Innovation Foundation

Tip of the Iceberg: Understanding the Full Depth of Big Tech’s Contribution to US Innovation and Competitiveness

The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) argues that U.S. “big tech” firms (Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft) provide critical R&D, infrastructure, and national-security spillovers that policymakers must account for when designing regulation or antitrust policy.

Main announcement / action: ITIF presents an analysis claiming the five largest U.S. tech firms invested $227 billion in R&D in 2024 and over $250 billion in capital expenditures in 2024, financing frontier projects (AI, quantum, semiconductors), strategic infrastructure (hyperscale data centers, subsea cables), and long-term energy deals (e.g., Alphabet–Kairos Power agreement to deliver six or seven SMRs between 2030–2035; Amazon anchored a $500 million investment round in X-energy; Amazon committed $150 billion to data center expansion over 15 years). These are presented as concrete, long-horizon commitments that create private demand signals for nuclear and other clean-energy technologies and underpin U.S. competitiveness vs. China.
Background and other details: The report documents open-research spillovers (AlphaFold, GraphCast, TensorFlow/PyTorch), startup and talent ecosystem links (acquisitions like YouTube/Android; AWS/Google/Microsoft startup programs and cloud credits), and defense ties (cloud contracts such as JWCC up to $9B to 2028, Microsoft IVAS $22B program). It cites third-party estimates and examples with timelines and dollar figures and urges regulators to include these quantified spillovers in cost-benefit analyses rather than only tallying harms.

Oct 1, 2025

Texas’ Data Center Potential Unveiled at Industry Power Forum

The inaugural Data Center World Power event opened in San Antonio on Tuesday, convening the data center industry to focus on sourcing and stewarding the energy needed for the AI era.

Main announcement/action: Organizers (Data Center World) set an agenda around power availability, build speed, and community impacts, led onstage by Bill Kleyman (program chair, CEO of Apolo.us). Speakers presented market figures showing Texas accounts for 15% of U.S. data center connectivity (MW) today and roughly 24% of projects in the pipeline, with 20–40 GW of additional data center load projected in Texas by 2035 versus 5–10 GW in Virginia; VoltaGrid’s Dave Bell also forecast 50–65% of large-scale data centers running behind-the-meter within the next 10 years.
Background and other details: ERCOT COO Woody Rickerson and Compass Data Centers CEO Chris Crosby discussed operational and community responsibilities: ERCOT noted more solar, wind, and batteries than any other state and emphasized the need for tighter grid engineering (stability models, voltage ride-through). Crosby described developer community investments (vocational training, localized operations centers, creek and stormwater improvements) and framed new campuses as 100-year-plus developments.

Event details:

Location: San Antonio, Texas
Date/time: opened “on Tuesday” (date not specified in article)
Agenda/subject: single-topic forum on power for AI, covering grid reality, site selection vs. power availability, behind-the-meter generation, and community stewardship.

Sep 16, 2025

Blackstone Energy to acquire Hill Top Energy Center for nearly $1bn

Blackstone Energy Transition Partners has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the Hill Top Energy Center (620MW) in Greene County, Pennsylvania, from Ardian for nearly $1bn.

Deal and asset details: The transaction is for the 620MW Hill Top Energy Center (completed in 2021), a combined cycle gas turbine plant in Greene County that will serve the PJM (Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Maryland) market to meet rising electricity demand driven by data centres. Advisors: Santander and Houlihan Lokey acted as financial advisors to Blackstone Energy Transition Partners; Kirkland & Ellis served as legal advisor.
Context and related commitments: The acquisition aligns with Blackstone’s July commitment to invest over $25bn in Pennsylvania’s digital and energy infrastructure and the firm’s statement that it aims to stimulate an additional $60bn of funding into the Commonwealth. The company previously agreed earlier this year to acquire the 774MW Potomac Energy Center in Loudoun County, Virginia.

Sep 16, 2025

Data centre future hinges on policy stability, not tax breaks

The Government of India has issued a draft National Data Centre Policy offering fiscal and regulatory incentives to attract large-scale data centre investment and link capacity expansion to energy efficiency and skills outcomes.

Main action: The draft policy proposes a 20-year tax holiday for developers who meet targets on capacity addition, energy efficiency, and job creation; it also proposes extending input tax credit on GST to capital assets (construction materials, cooling systems, electrical equipment) and may grant permanent establishment status to companies leasing or operating at least 100 MW of capacity to provide operational certainty.
Background and details: The article cites the data centre industry’s 24% CAGR since 2019, a projected addition of 795 MW by 2027 taking total capacity to 1,825 MW, and reported occupancy rates of 75–80% (JLL, CBRE). The draft requests coordination with the Ministry of Power for reliability and stresses integration with renewable energy and training-linked incentives; it recommends states earmark land banks for data centre parks.

Sep 13, 2025

Big Tech's energy-hungry data centers could be bumped off grids during power emergencies

Policymakers and grid operators are proposing rules to allow utilities or grid operators to disconnect large data centers during power emergencies.

Main action: Several U.S. regions are considering or implementing rules that would let utilities or grid operators disconnect large data centers during power emergencies to avoid widespread blackouts; Texas passed a bill in June ordering standards for power emergencies, PJM (which serves 65 million people) has proposed that proposed data centers may not be guaranteed electricity during a power emergency, and the Indiana & Michigan Power and Google filed a power-supply contract for a proposed $2 billion Fort Wayne data center in which Google agreed to reduce electricity use when the grid is stressed (key contract details remain confidential).
Background and details: Grid operators such as Southwest Power Pool (serving 18 million people) and Monitoring Analytics warn data center load could overwhelm grids; data centers use backup diesel generators, the Data Center Coalition seeks flexible standards, and advocates like Dan Diorio recommend pairing mandatory actions with financial rewards for voluntary reductions. The surge in demand is linked to AI growth since late 2022 (ChatGPT), and regulators and governors have raised legal and investment concerns about the proposals.

Sep 12, 2025

Meet Europe’s first exascale supercomputer — can it compete in the global AI race?

The European Commission and Germany inaugurated the JUPITER exascale supercomputer at Forschungszentrum Jülich on 5 September.

Main announcement/action: JUPITER is an exascale supercomputer officially reaching the exascale threshold (surpassing one quintillion / 10^18 operations per second) and is listed as the fourth-fastest machine in the world with a benchmark of about 800 petaflops and peak capability exceeding 1 exaflop; it runs on ~24,000 NVIDIA chips, draws 17 megawatts at full load (equivalent to powering ~11,000 homes), and the EU says it “runs entirely on renewable energy”. JUPITER is funded by the European Commission and Germany and is located at Forschungszentrum Jülich; it booted and performed first computations in July 2025 and was inaugurated on 5 September 2025.
Background and implementation details: Development began since 2018; Jülich project lead Thomas Lippert says the system will help train talent to build and operate such machines. Researchers can apply to use JUPITER up to twice a year, 30 projects have already been selected spanning AI (foundation models, video generation), climate models, particle physics, energy applications, and biomedical research. The project ranks first in energy efficiency on the Green500 list and achieves renewable operation by purchasing renewable energy from Germany’s national grid.

Sep 10, 2025

ORNL wins 20 R&D 100 Awards

Oak Ridge National Laboratory announced it set a new lab record by winning 20 R&D 100 Awards in the current global competition (ORNL led 17 winners and co-developed three more, with 29 ORNL finalist technologies).

Main announcement & highlights: ORNL reports 20 R&D 100 Awards (17 led, 3 co-developed) across energy, materials, manufacturing, computing and emerging technologies; notable technology metrics include rotary transformer motor tested on a 200-kW BorgWarner motor (92–95% efficiency, up to 15% efficiency improvement, up to 25% higher power density, validated over 53,000 cycles ≈ 10 years), LMHE engine with 15% weight reduction and >10% fuel-efficiency improvement, heat pump water heater with 30% improvement in first-hour hot water delivery, and BIPHASICS CO2 capture claiming up to 46% less solvent regeneration energy and 30% lower CO2 capture cost vs MEA.
Background, partners and technical details: The announcement lists commercial and research partners and commercialization steps (e.g., The Sexton Corporation commercializing the underwater X-ray system; collaboration with BorgWarner, GM, Cummins, Soteria Battery Innovation Group, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, and academic partners). It documents technology specifics such as HyPoCap (surface area >4,000 m2/g; 610 F/g capacitance), E-GRIMS operating at ~800°C with >90% energy savings and completing graphitization in ~2 hours, Next-Gen Polyiso R-value 8.3 per inch (30% better), Future Foundries reducing production cycles by up to 68%, and simulation tools (DR-Weld, ExaDigiT, PRESTO, Simurgh) with stated performance claims and deployment partners. Funding sources and managing organization (UT-Battelle for DOE Office of Science) are also listed.

Sep 9, 2025

The infrastructure moment

McKinsey has released a report estimating $106 trillion of infrastructure investment is needed globally through 2040, spanning seven verticals and urging integrated, cross‑vertical planning.

Key announcement and figures: The report projects $106 trillion cumulative investment needed by 2040 across seven verticals — transport and logistics $36 trillion, energy and power $23 trillion, digital $19 trillion, social $16 trillion, waste and water $6 trillion, agriculture $5 trillion, and defense $2 trillion — and highlights that Asia could account for ~$70 trillion of the total. It also notes private infrastructure AUM rose from ~$500 billion (2016) to $1.5 trillion (2024) and recommends integrated policy and financing approaches to mobilize private capital.
Background, partnerships, and implementation details: The report documents cross‑vertical capital flows and named partnerships and commitments, including the Global AI Infrastructure Investment Partnership (BlackRock, Global Infrastructure Partners, MGX, Microsoft) aiming to raise up to $100 billion (starting with $30 billion in private equity) to build data centers and supporting power infrastructure, and ADQ’s partnership with Energy Capital Partners to invest more than $25 billion (initial $5 billion capital infusion) to develop 25 gigawatts of US power generation and infrastructure. It also cites regional allocations (Asia ~$70 trillion, Americas ~$16 trillion, Europe ~$13 trillion) and specific local initiatives (e.g., NSW AU$80 million innovation fund to fast‑track projects).

Sep 3, 2025 · Tech Xplore

Solar-boosted system turns wasted data center heat into clean power

Rice University reports a study introducing a solar thermal-boosted organic Rankine cycle (ORC) system that adds rooftop flat-plate solar collectors to data center liquid-cooling loops to raise coolant temperature and recover waste heat as electricity.

Primary announcement/action: The study by Laura Schaefer and Kashif Liaqat models a solar thermal-boosted ORC integrated with a representative liquid-cooling loop and rooftop flat-plate collectors; modeled in Ashburn, Virginia and Los Angeles and validated with industry tools. Key measured outcomes: 60–80% more electricity recovered annually (60% in Ashburn, 80% in Los Angeles), >8% higher ORC efficiency during sunny peak hours, and reductions in cost of recovered electricity of 5.5% (Ashburn) and 16.5% (Los Angeles). The paper DOI is 10.1016/j.solener.2025.113893 and was published in the journal Solar Energy (2025).
Background and next steps: The authors note this avoids added plug-loads from electric heat pumps because solar thermal provides the temperature lift; the system uses off-the-shelf low-profile rooftop collectors tied directly into liquid cooling. Recommended next actions include piloting the hybrid system at an operational site, exploring thermal storage to bank solar heat for night use, and evaluating other collector types for colder regions. The article is an announcement/report of peer-reviewed research from Rice University, edited by Gaby Clark and reviewed by Robert Egan.

Sep 3, 2025

New Data Center Developments: September 2025

DataCenterKnowledge published a curated roundup of recent global data center project announcements and large power and financing deals.

Key development summary: The roundup details multiple major projects and deals, including Equinix’s new partnerships with Radiant, ULC-Energy, and Stellaria for next-gen nuclear power and expanded solid-oxide fuel cell use with Bloom Energy; Caterpillar agreed with Joule Capital Partners to provide 4 GW of CHP power for a planned Utah campus (target launch sometime next year); Meta’s Hyperion Louisiana campus is expected to consume up to 5 GW; CoreWeave bought a 102-acre campus for $322 million; Vantage revealed plans to invest over $25 billion in a 1.4 GW / 1,200-acre Texas campus; EdgeConneX and Lambda are developing a 30+ MW dual-city AI data center in Chicago and Atlanta; Oracle / Elea / Rio de Janeiro target 1.5 GW by 2027 (expandable to 3.2 GW by 2032) for ‘Rio AI City’.
Background and technical/financial details: The article frames projects against record-breaking demand and grid limitations; it notes energy and cooling approaches such as CHP and captured waste heat, solid-oxide fuel cells, high-voltage battery storage, and CDC Australia’s proposed 200 MW campus with a closed-loop zero-water primary cooling system. It also lists financing and deal figures: QTS announcing a $10 billion campus, STACK investing $1.66 billion in Johor, NEXTDC adding A$3.5 billion new debt within A$6.4 billion total facilities, and Keppel raising $4.9 billion this year toward a $150 billion funds target by 2030.

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