No place on the earth boasts a extra spectacular assortment of tech corporations than Santa Clara County. The Northern California enclave — dwelling to Apple, Google, Nvidia, Intel, AMD, Broadcom and lots of others — is an unequalled financial powerhouse. It’s additionally dwelling for about 1.9 million residents.
But, beneath the glitzy façade of this Silicon Valley metropolis lies a stark reality: Sprawling workplace complexes, big manufacturing services, energy-intensive information facilities (there are 72 of them within the county), and wired households draw big quantities of electrical energy. Santa Clara County consumed 17,102 million kWh (GWh) of electrical energy in 2022, in accordance to the California Power Fee.
Balancing power demand, resilience and sustainability is a formidable job. Along with one of many world’s highest concentrations of information facilities, 43% of autos bought in Santa Clara County are EVs, greater than double the nationwide price. Silicon Valley Clear Power (SVCE), a group selection aggregator that delivers clear electrical energy to 13 communities within the area, predicts that demand for electrical energy will rise 40% by 2050.
The aim? “Obtain financial and social resilience whereas maintaining power costs down,” states Jasneet Sharma, Director for Santa Clara County’s Workplace of Sustainability and Resilience. “The county’s compass? We should adapt to a altering local weather, proceed to cut back air pollution and improve our pure assets — all whereas selling a affluent and simply economic system,” she says.
Success hinges on the county’s potential to transition to a clear power economic system. This, in flip, would require ongoing change, together with dialing up renewables, modernizing the grid, and adopting to new applications and applied sciences, together with digital energy crops (VPPs) and battery storage methods. “We’re working carefully with our member cities to grasp how AI and information middle demand affect our load. We’re persevering with to obtain clear energy to satisfy the forecasted demand,” says Monica Padilla, CEO of SVCE.
Energy on Excessive
As an financial powerhouse, few locations rival Santa Clara County. Its 2022 gross home product (GDP) was $400.1 billion. The broader metropolitan space ranks second within the US in per capita GDP. On the similar time, inhabitants progress, new housing, enterprise growth, and the necessity for a strong EV charging infrastructure are straining the prevailing power infrastructure.
As of 2023, renewable power sources similar to photo voltaic and wind account for 54% of California’s in-state electrical era. Utilities scattered throughout the Silicon Valley already get hold of a good portion of their power via renewables. For instance, Silicon Valley Energy (SVP), which serves the Metropolis of Santa Clara, goals to succeed in 50% renewable power by 2026 and 60% by 2030. It strives to be greenhouse gas-free (GHG) by 2045.
“We now have skilled sustained progress during the last twenty years,” says Manuel Pineda, chief electrical utility officer for SVP. The county tasks demand to double over the subsequent decade. “Trade is driving a lot of this progress, significantly information facilities situated inside the metropolis.” But he notes that giant residential tasks have additionally fueled an increase in power use. About 92% of the town’s energy goes to industrial customers, whereas 6% flows to residential prospects.
SVCE is driving the transition to wash power. The company, a joint powers authority (JPA), eliminates the necessity for every utility to barter clear power purchases. Already, the entity has signed greater than 20 long-term buy agreements for large-scale renewable tasks that vary from 20 MW to 100 MW of energy. By 2030, these tasks will account for practically 80% of SVCE’s complete annual load, Padilla says.
But, the trail to progress could possibly be bumpy. A key query is sustain with the ravenous electrical energy calls for of information facilities. The truth that the Silicon Valley is located on a peninsula complicates issues, says Lincoln Bleveans, government director for sustainability, utilities, and infrastructure at Stanford College. “There are solely a few main transmission traces coming into the area. So, from a reliability and resilience standpoint there are some extra dangers.”
Danger on this case takes the type of an earthquake, fireplace, or different catastrophe. If one excessive transmission line goes down, widespread energy shortages may ensue. Whether or not the traces can assist the required influx of renewable power from different components of the state can also be an open query, significantly as power demand will increase. At current, there aren’t any main photo voltaic or wind farms within the peninsula, and rooftop photo voltaic methods produce solely a small proportion of the power required, Bleveans says.
Seeing the Mild
A clear power future would require a mix of innovation, creativity, and coverage. Presently, SVCE and Pacific Fuel & Electrical (PG&E) are finding out methods to impress and modernize a grid infrastructure initially constructed to accommodate gas-fired energy. We’re working with member cities to grasp how AI and information middle demand might affect our load.” Padilla says.
On the similar time, the Santa Clara Workplace of Sustainability is collaborating with the state Inexperienced Enterprise Community to assist small and medium-sized companies (SMBs) hook up with assets and acquire technical help for constructing out EV charging methods and different electrification tasks. “Clear power is one thing that we should deal with on quite a few fronts,” Sharma says.
Certainly. Officers are additionally exploring microgrids, digital energy crops, and rising applied sciences, together with small modular reactors (SMRs) that generate zero carbon. Though California hasn’t been receptive to any type of nuclear energy lately—the state has had a close to complete nuclear power moratorium in place since 1976, “SMRs may show to be an efficient resolution. It’s smart to contemplate all of the choices,” Bleveans says.
Battery storage may play an important function in serving to Santa Clara County and different Silicon Valley communities meet their clear power targets. As a result of renewable power era is inherently unpredictable, balancing provide and demand stays a problem. SVCE has already invested in 1,845 MWh of battery storage and hopes to develop the usage of the know-how within the coming years.
Grid-scale and distributed battery methods may also help by storing extra energy and releasing it when wanted — whether or not the trigger is a routine shortfall or the results of earthquakes, wildfires, and warmth waves. Statewide, California goals to extend battery capability from 6,600 MW in 2023 to 52,000 MW in 2045.
Attending to a carbon-free future gained’t be simple — significantly with rising roadblocks which will happen on the federal degree. But Santa Clara County officers and others within the area really feel as if they’re as much as the duty. “We have to construct renewable tasks at an unprecedented price,” SVCE’s Padilla says. “Our communities and the state acknowledge the advantages of getting energy from clear, renewable sources.”
