The Linux Foundation (LF) is building a new open source platform to modernise energy grids and encourage utility companies and regulators to adopt shared technology as power remains an AI bottleneck.
The OpenGrid initiative to develop grid tech standards launched on Wednesday at LF’s annual Open Source Summit Europe, with backers including Breakthrough Energy (BE), Connected Grid Initiative, and Google.org.
Management Committee Chair Alice Yake, VP of GRIDS at BE, told a keynote audience at the Prague event that existing open source tools for the energy sector were largely too complicated or isolated for broad use.
She said: “We don't need to reinvent capacity, expansion, modelling production cost or power flow, but what we need to do is to make them work in harmony and make these tools accessible. So that regulators, decision makers, and people building these plants out in our communities can have transparency, repeatability, and ultimately, alignment.”
According to the International Energy Agency, data centres account for around 1.5% of global electricity consumption, and their power demands are expected to double by 2030 to 945 terawatt-hours.