Rapidly Scaling Enterprise Data Center Demand and Accelerating Timelines

Overview

This case study chronicles the provider of enterprise and co-location data centers facing a seemingly impossible challenge: rapidly scaling their infrastructure to meet surging demand while accelerating online deployment and securing clean baseload power for sustainable energy consumption. With campuses spanning 15+ key markets worldwide and operating over 8 million square feet of facilities ranging from 20 to 150 MW, the customer understands the importance of delivering industry-leading campuses at an accelerated pace for the top cloud providers, hyperscalers, and technology companies.

With ambitious goals and tight deadlines,  the customer sought an energy solution to help them maintain their high standards of scale, speed-to-market, efficiency, sustainability, and operational excellence without the responsibility of financing and managing the energy project.

About the Customer

The customer’s UK-based project consists of expanding their existing data center facility from a peak demand of 35 MW to 100 MW to serve the planned growth of their hyperscale tenant. In planning their expansion to 100 MW, the distribution grid operator told the customer that the earliest they could upgrade the existing 40MVA grid supply connection would be 2035. In an industry where speed to market is everything, these wait times for utility connections make their expansion project all but impossible.‍

Alternative Exploration

The customer had explored a variety of potential solutions to bridge the gap: solar and batteries, hydrogen-fired fuel cells or hydrogen-blended gas turbines, and even diesel generators. None of the alternatives fit the economics, reliability, and sustainability qualifications their tenants require.

Nuclear power presents a compelling environmental case due to its minimal emissions of air pollutants, which mitigate climate risks. This constant, zero-carbon, baseload power supply aligns with the ongoing operational needs of data centers, providing commercial stability through long-term direct-power purchases. Unlike solar and wind technologies, nuclear power stands out as one of the few sources of continuous, carbon-free, baseload power capable of operating round the clock. Nuclear power was an obvious solution to this trilemma, but the customer hadn’t found a provider that fit its size requirement and didn’t require significant capital investment.

Last Energy Solution

After a few discovery calls to better understand the customer’s needs, Last Energy was able to propose a solution that checked all the boxes:    
‍

• 32% cost savings vs. forecasted delivered industrial power costs
  ‍
• 24/7 carbon-free solution, saving 4 million tonnes of CO vs. grid supply over the life of the 24-year direct wire PPA
  ‍
• Deploying modular units of 20 MW over time as the expansion demand ramps up
  ‍
• Supply redundancy against the 100MVA maximum energy demand through 120 MW of primary supply capacity (N+1) plus the existing 40MVA grid capacity as a backup
  ‍

Last Energy’s nuclear-as-a-service model streamlines the delivery of reliable baseload electricity by taking end-to-end responsibility for all deployment activities from product design to operations and maintenance. Our zero-carbon solution procures affordable and consistent electricity, with no up-front cost through our long-term, fixed-price physical baseload PPA and accelerates the grid interconnection by 7 to 8 years. We combine proven reactor technology with the modular and compact design of the PWR-20 power plant and leverage existing supply chains to rapidly deploy and scale to meet energy demand. 

Next Steps

Alignment on the scope of the solution is just step 1 in the project lifecycle. With the end goal articulated, Last Energy can begin some preliminary desktop siting processes while working through the details of the PPA term sheet with the customer’s legal and commercial teams.

‍

Learn more about Last Energy's data center solutions >