Power & Sites · United States

Secure access across global data centers

Credited to Data Center Dynamics · datacenterdynamics.com · 2h ago

Photograph · Data Center Dynamics

From fragmented access to centralized control across 100+ sites

Rapidly scaling across 100+ data centers and 30,000+ identities using manual spreadsheets, disconnected systems, and email approvals creates severe operational bottlenecks, leaving sensitive facilities exposed to unrevoked credentials and turning regulatory audits into complex, time-consuming hurdles.

This whitepaper outlines the implementation of RightCrowd SmartAccess, a cloud-native Physical Identity and Access Management (PIAM) foundation that centralizes provisioning, connects HR and security platforms via APIs, and enforces real-time policy control.

Power & SitesUnited States

Google Secures More Than 6 GW in Power Deals for AI Data Centers

Credited to TheElec · thelec.net2h ago

Useful

Google announced a series of power agreements totaling more than 6 gigawatts (GW) as it moves to secure electricity for its artificial intelligence (AI) data centers.

Google signed a long-term power agreement totaling 3,590 megawatts (MW) with Constellation Energy. It also reached an agreement with Black Hills to secure 2.7 GW of power resources, including reserves, to supply a data center in Wyoming. About a quarter of the capacity covered by the Constellation agreement, or 890 MW, will be newly added through uprates at existing nuclear plants.

According to Constellation Energy and Black Hills, Google signed a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Constellation to secure 890 MW of new carbon-free generation capacity by increasing the output of 11 existing nuclear units. The first uprate is scheduled for 2028, and Constellation will invest heavily to support the project.

Separately, Google and Constellation signed a 15-year energy supply agreement covering 2.7 GW of existing generation assets within the PJM Interconnection, the U.S. East Coast power-grid operator. By committing to purchase power and generation capacity over the long term, the agreement provides Constellation with a stable revenue base to keep its existing generation assets supplying the PJM power market.

Along with securing power, the two companies will apply AI directly to power-plant and grid operations. Constellation plans to use Google Cloud and Gemini Enterprise to automate power-generation equipment monitoring, maintenance, dispatch optimization, site selection, power-flow analysis, permitting, and interconnection planning. Google Cloud will also be used to strengthen security for operational technology (OT) networks at nuclear plants that are separated from external networks. The strategy expands AI beyond a technology that increases data-center power consumption into "AI for energy" aimed at improving power generation and operating efficiency.

Black Hills signed an agreement to supply power to a data center that Google plans to build in Cheyenne, Wyoming. The agreement runs through 2048, with total power resources for the data center reaching 2.7 GW including reserves. Power service is scheduled to begin in late 2027, with the project expected to reach peak load in 2030.

Black Hills will provide up to 590 MW of the total power resources through its own generation facilities and purchases from the power market. To do so, the company plans to build 564 MW of new natural-gas generation at its existing Cheyenne Prairie Generating Station. The remaining 26 MW will be supplied through power-market purchases and retail electric service.

The remaining roughly 2.1 GW will consist of generation resources contracted from third parties in Wyoming. Black Hills will integrate and manage the output of those resources through a private microgrid, coordinating grid operations, reliability, and power dispatch. The agreement was structured so that costs associated with serving the Google data center are not shifted to existing retail customers. Google will bear the costs associated with supplying the data center, while Black Hills will earn returns on its generation investment and fees for managing the microgrid.

The agreements show that Google’s strategy for securing power for AI data centers is shifting toward long-term acquisition and structuring of generation infrastructure itself. The company is combining multiple approaches, including investment in nuclear uprates, maintaining existing generation assets, new natural-gas generation, and third-party resource management, effectively linking nuclear power, gas generation, power markets, and microgrids into a single supply chain to meet the massive electricity demand of AI data centers.

Original · TheElec

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Power & Sites · United States

Protecting uptime in the age of AI: coating considerations for AI data centers

Credited to Data Center Dynamics · datacenterdynamics.com · 3h ago

Photograph · Data Center Dynamics

Jenna Engel is the regional market segment director, manufacturing & processing for Sherwin-Williams Protective & Marine.

Stop treating coatings as a finishing touch

Technology is accelerating fast, with AI driving most of it. That acceleration requires more compute power, which demands more from the data centers built to provide it.

These facilities, increasingly called AI factories, are engineered from the ground up to support that demand. Specialized servers, advanced cooling systems, uninterrupted power supply infrastructure – the whole stack is designed to ensure zero downtime and hit the industry-standard five 9s of availability (99.999 percent uptime, or ~five minutes of downtime per year). Every decision, including coatings, made inside those walls matters.

Here is where the mindset shift needs to happen. Coatings are too often treated as a finishing touch, something you think about at the end of a project primarily for aesthetics. In a data center, that type of thinking is a liability. Coatings are functional, foundational elements that actively protect the facility around the clock. They are working every day to maximize operational readiness and efficiency. Coatings are not finishes - they are risk-control systems for uptime.

With that in mind, there are four critical coatings considerations every data center construction decision-maker needs to have on their radar before the next build.

Build for speed and modular construction

Modular construction is growing in data center design, and for good reason. It offers faster build timelines and greater project flexibility. However, that speed advantage quickly disappears if your coatings are not keeping up.

Materials need to be engineered for fast cure times and high durability, so they do not become a bottleneck. For exterior steel, inorganic zinc-rich coatings are a cost-effective alternative to hot-dip galvanizing. The key advantage here is that even if the coating gets scratched during modular construction or transport, the zinc actively protects the exposed steel. That kind of durability is not negotiable when components are moving around a job site.

Inside the modular units, a high-performance direct-to-metal polyurethane gives you a durable, cleanable finish on walls, doors, ceilings, and rack supports that hold up through transport, installation, and long-term use. For steel skids in direct contact with soil, a fast-setting urethane lining provides a barrier against moisture and corrosion from the ground up.

Coatings must also be engineered to meet the speed and throughput demands of OEM production environments, as modular equipment can often arrive with factory-applied coatings already in place. The right coating choice can directly accelerate manufacturing output and shorten time-to-delivery for critical data center components, while still delivering the durability required to withstand fabrication, handling, transport, and installation without field rework.

Eliminate the static discharge threat early

The demands inside an AI data center are unlike most facilities, with sensitive electronics everywhere, constant power draw, and zero tolerance for interruption. In that environment, the smallest static discharge can shut down an entire facility.

Electrostatic discharge control needs to be addressed early, not retrofitted. In server halls, an electrostatic dissipative urethane topcoat controls static discharge while also delivering a durable, chemical-resistant finish. This matters especially in rooms housing main switchgear and power distribution units, where uninterrupted power is the whole game. Getting the flooring specification and even OE-coated components, such as enclosures, racks, and panels, right in those spaces is a straightforward way to take a significant risk off the table.

Polished concrete might look fine, but it lacks inherent electrostatic dissipation unless treated, typically falling outside ANSI/ESD S20.20 control ranges. ESD events as low as <100 volts can damage sensitive electronics.

Protection across the entire campus

Each area inside the facility depends on the right protection.

Corrosion costs industry billions annually; this is where thinking beyond the initial build pays off. The coatings strategy you put in place on day one needs to last through the full facility lifecycle, including the maintenance phase. What protects the building at construction needs to still be doing its job years later.

A global specification partner that delivers

Hyperscale data center development is happening across North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia, and beyond, and the coatings strategy behind those builds needs to work at that same scale. That means consistent specification alignment across markets, high-volume supply that does not buckle under large-scale demand, and localized technical support on the ground when and where it is needed.

This consistency must extend across both field-applied and OE coatings. Global data center builds rely heavily on equipment manufactured in multiple regions, making it critical that OE coating specifications are standardized and aligned with field systems to ensure performance consistency regardless of where components are fabricated.

Availability of materials matters a lot when construction timelines are aggressive, and delays are not an option. Global supply capability extends across structural steel, modular systems, and critical infrastructure components, the full scope of what these projects require.

Beyond the build itself, data center owners and operators need a partner that can support the broader data center ecosystem, including the water and power infrastructure that keeps these facilities running.

The bottom line is that a coatings partner for hyperscale AI data center work needs to operate at hyperscale too, with consistent global specifications, localized technical service and field support, and the supply capacity to back it all up. That combination is what makes a specification actually executable across a global portfolio.

How to get it right

Integrating these considerations into the next build comes down to three things. First, start early. Coatings decisions belong in the initial design phase, not the final stretch. Second, work with an expert partner who can navigate material selection and application for the specific demands of an AI data center environment. Third, think lifecycle.

The right strategy does not just get the building constructed and open, it keeps it running. AI data centers are purpose-built for some of the most demanding workloads in the world. The coatings protecting them should be purpose-built too. A fully aligned coatings strategy ensures that every surface, whether coated in a manufacturing facility or in the field, works together to deliver long-term protection and uptime.