Alderbuck Energy has announced the deployment of its Nexus Power Unit (NPU) at the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC), part of UC San Diego, as part of a California Energy Commission-funded initiative to transform data centre operations.
The NPU is an 800 VDC advanced medium-voltage solid-state transformer (SST) platform.
Access deeper industry intelligence
Experience unmatched clarity with a single platform that combines unique data, AI, and human expertise.
The initiative entitled “Accelerating Grid-Interactive, Flexible Data Centers in California,” aims to gather operational data on a 12 kV AC-to-800 VDC architecture designed to support data centres in addressing increasing AI rack densities, grid coordination requirements and power-system complexity.
This project will evaluate whether the NPU can deliver a 4% energy efficiency improvement and reduce power equipment footprint by more than 50%.
It will also assess if the system can shorten power-system installation times by over 50%, compared to the conventional 480 V AC data centre power architecture.
If achieved, these metrics are expected to enable smaller electrical rooms, quicker energisation, reduced construction risk, and faster capacity onboarding for developers.
Prior to its installation at the SDSC, the NPU will undergo testing at the factory and validated in a utility-scale laboratory.
UC San Diego’s DERConnect, the $42m, National Science Foundation-funded testing facility, will use hardware-in-the-loop simulations with AI workload profiles to reduce operational risks before deployment within a live data centre.
Operators will then assess grid-responsive performance under specific reliability, workload, and service quality parameters.
Alderbuck Energy chief strategy officer Kimberly McGrath said “California is positioned to lead the next wave of AI infrastructure, both for large, centralised data centre campuses and for more distributed facilities.
“This deployment is designed to show how medium-voltage-to-800 VDC power infrastructure can help operators bring high-density compute capacity online faster while maintaining the reliability data centres require.”
Project partners include San Diego Gas & Electric Company, EmeraldAI, Good For Others Foundation, with UC San Diego serving as the prime contractor.
An equity-focused workforce development initiative targeting high-power, grid-interactive data centre operations will also be included.
