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    1. Distributed Energy

    DC Grid, Liberty Energy Focus Collaboration Around Off-Grid Projects

    Jan. 7, 2025
    The memorandum of understanding between the two companies is centered around developing direct-current (DC) power infrastructure which can support large-scale customers such as EV charging infrastructure and data centers.
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    Off-grid and on-site power solutions startup DC Grid is going to partner its new systems with longtime energy services firm Liberty Energy for projects tailored to commercial customers such as fleet electrification and data centers.

    The memorandum of understanding between the two companies is centered around developing direct-current (DC) power infrastructure which can support large-scale customers independent of the main grid. The collaboration will combine DC Grid’s off-grid modular systems with Liberty’s products, including mobile and on-site power generation capabilities.

    The projects can be microgrid-connected, but the common voltage will be DC, according to the firms.

    The mobile generation provided by Liberty Energy offers fuel flexibility, such as natural gas, renewable natural gas and hydrogen. Keeping the on-site electricity as direct current will improve efficiency and stability of the power.

    "A reliable and robust energy supply is essential to drive economic growth, support ready-to-deploy cleantech innovations, and sustain critical advancements in AI (artificial intelligence)," said Vic Shao, Founder and CEO of DC Grid, in a statement. "Our partnership with Liberty provides us with the opportunity to offer customers fast and reliable options for power. This is especially useful for data centers and fleet EV hubs that are in long queues for service upgrades from the local utilities.”

    Shao created DC Grid in the past year as a startup focused on developing direct current-specific off-grid projects to meet a growing new market for fleet electrification and AI-focused data expansion. Previously, he helmed charging infrastructure firms such as Amply Power and Green Charging Network until they were acquired by bigger firms.

    Liberty Energy has delivered on-site power to industries including oil and gas hydraulic fracturing, fleet electrification and mobile power applications for remote projects. The company was founded in 2011.

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    Liberty’s collaboration with DC Grid should enable the rapid deployment of low-emission distributed energy solutions at a time when customers are seeking electrification and energy supply beyond the utility grid.

    "By pairing our industry leading power generation service capabilities with DC Grid’s modular DC technology, we are positioned to deliver timely, capital efficient energy solutions for high-demand sectors like data centers and fleet EV hubs,” Ron Gusek, president of Liberty Energy, said.

    Liberty will focus on providing power system options through its Liberty Power Innovations subsidiary that will feed directly into DC Grid's DC-based applications including EV chargers and data center power shelves.

    Customers seeking off-grid solutions to fleet electrification challenges lately have included Costco, the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks and the city of Austin, Texas.

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    About the Author

    Rod Walton, EnergyTech Managing Editor | Senior Editor

    For EnergyTech editorial inquiries, please contact Managing Editor Rod Walton at [email protected].

    Rod Walton has spent 15 years covering the energy industry as a newspaper and trade journalist. He formerly was energy writer and business editor at the Tulsa World. Later, he spent six years covering the electricity power sector for Pennwell and Clarion Events. He joined Endeavor and EnergyTech in November 2021.

    Walton earned his Bachelors degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma. His career stops include the Moore American, Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise, Wagoner Tribune and Tulsa World. 

    EnergyTech is focused on the mission critical and large-scale energy users and their sustainability and resiliency goals. These include the commercial and industrial sectors, as well as the military, universities, data centers and microgrids. The C&I sectors together account for close to 30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S.

    He was named Managing Editor for Microgrid Knowledge and EnergyTech starting July 1, 2023

    Many large-scale energy users such as Fortune 500 companies, and mission-critical users such as military bases, universities, healthcare facilities, public safety and data centers, shifting their energy priorities to reach net-zero carbon goals within the coming decades. These include plans for renewable energy power purchase agreements, but also on-site resiliency projects such as microgrids, combined heat and power, rooftop solar, energy storage, digitalization and building efficiency upgrades.

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