Oak Ridge sets up unit to tackle AI datacenter energy demand • The Register

https://www.theregister.com/2026/02/27/oak_ridge_datacenter_power/

Publish Date: 2026-02-27 13:56:00

Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is hoping to turn its technical expertise to the problem of growing electricity demand from AI datacenters.

The US federal research center in Tennessee is launching the Next Generation Data Centers Institute (NGDCI) in support of national energy and AI priorities, though any lessons learned will likely apply globally as well.

As an internal “institute within an institute,” NGDCI aims to bring together the laboratory’s facilities and expertise spanning energy, high-performance computing, cybersecurity, and grid technology. The ultimate goal is to ensure that America’s rapidly growing AI infrastructure remains secure, efficient, and reliable, the lab says.

“Artificial intelligence is transforming every part of our society, but its energy appetite is unlike anything we’ve seen before,” ORNL Director Stephen Streiffer stated.

“The electricity required to power AI datacenters is expected to double or triple in the coming decade, straining infrastructure that is already under pressure. ORNL is uniquely positioned to meet this challenge.”

Efforts will cover six research areas: thermal management, power system architecture, grid integration, security, integrated systems modeling, and operational load management.

Thermal management will focus on the next generation of cooling tech, as ORNL claims current systems may account for 40 to 60 percent of a datacenter’s total energy consumption. Research into power system architecture will look at how energy flows from source to server, bringing in ideas such as direct current and new power electronics to reduce losses.

Security considerations will look at embedding cyber-informed engineering (an actual thing, apparently) into the infrastructure of datacenters, along with quantum-safe communications.

Integrated systems modeling aims to look…

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