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    Gridmatic delivering AI-enabled Renewable Time Matching to Texas Data Center demand

    Jan. 24, 2023
    Gridmatic was contracted by data center solutions firm EdgeConneX to provide time-matched carbon-free energy for one of its facilities in Texas and within the state’s ERCOT grid operator territory
    Image courtesy of Gridmatic
    Gridmatic Cfe Portal 63cfea1b03b62

    Timing is everything, whether it’s stock market hunches, relationships or renewable energy transitions.

    And, when it comes to renewables, virtual power purchase agreements are like virtual anything else. They’re ok but not as good as the real thing.

    One new relationship between a data center firm and an artificial intelligence-enabled time-matching energy technology could take the energy transition one step further from the virtual to the reality.

    Check out our new EnergyTech E-Book

    Navigating the Energy Transition: The Digital, Efficiency and Grid Edge Series

    Stories on work by Emerson, ABB, Hitachi Energy, Veritone and Schneider Electric

    AI-focused power marketer Gridmatic is announcing several moves Tuesday that the company sees as key steps in making renewable energy credits more of a tangible connection to customer's ESG goals than the typical offsets. In this case, Gridmatic was contracted by data center solutions firm EdgeConneX to provide time-matched carbon-free energy for one of its facilities in Texas and within the state’s ERCOT grid operator territory.

    The time matchmaking between load and renewable power began at the start of the year.

    “There is strong and growing demand for time-matched renewables but a lack of viable solutions due to the complexity of the challenge,” said Matt Wytock, CEO and Founder of Gridmatic, in a statement. “Gridmatic is applying Silicon Valley AI to solve this problem and has four years of market success with its algorithms for industry-leading electricity market predictions.”

    At the same time, Gridmatic announced the opening of a new retail service based out of Houston. The company chose Texas because of its high renewable energy penetration, in particular in utility-scale wind power, and its deregulated, competitive grid marketplace.

    Both factors dovetail nicely to create what Gridmatic leaders believe is fertile ground for its AI time-matching energy platform. In other words, the Gridmatic AI will match EdgeConneX data center’s energy use with renewable energies being generated within ERCOT at that particular point in time.

    David Miller, Gridmatic
    David Miller, Gridmatic

    The matching will provide EdgeConneX with renewable energyto match its load on an hour-by-hour basis. 

    RECs match load on an annual basis, but this approach matches to clean energy that is directly related to the load every hour of the day.  

    “Most data centers cannot meet their energy needs entirely with onsite generation," David Miller, Gridmatic vice president of business development, told EnergyTech. “In this case of EdgeConneX, the approach is to have a power supply backed by firm contract with carbon-free energy, primarily wind power, located in the grid where it’s being consumed.”

    The Gridmatic AI blends multiple forms of data, from ERCOT generation snapshots to weather forecasting and grid traffic, into a cohesive portfolio available to the customer. It’s not a wind farm turning blades right next door—although it might be someday—but directly connecting generation in the same independent system operations region to the end user.

    The credits “are only counted if being produced during the time it’s being consumed,” Miller pointed out. “We make sure we’re achieving time-matched energy.”

    Gridmatic chose Texas for its unique combination of deregulated, competitive market and nation-leading renewable energy profile. The company plans to expand the Gridmatic Retail offering into similar marketplaces such as the northeast, PJM Interconnection and other ISOs and states.

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    (Rod Walton, senior editor for EnergyTech, is a 15-year veteran of covering the energy industry both as a newspaper and trade journalist. He can be reached at [email protected]).

    Follow us on Twitter @EnergyTechNews and @rodwaltonelp and on LinkedIn.

    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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