this post was submitted on 20 Sep 2024
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Futurology

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[–] styxem@sh.itjust.works 3 points 10 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago)

I'm very skeptical of the actual benefit of something like this.

The 6GW system would be made up of pairs of cables stretching about 3,500km across the North Atlantic.

I don't see much benefit unless this becomes cheaper than the cost of building and running the equivalent generation (about two large plants.) Ohio's data center load alone is projected to increase by about 4.5 GW by 2030.

If security was your top priority, surely decentralized microgrids with widely dispersed battery grid storage would be much more effective?

I'd say so, and it seemed like that was the way the industry was trending about 10 years ago but it seems like the large data center demand stalled that considering some of the facilities could use their own generation plant. Plus, the United States already has a precedent of substations being taken down by gun toting idiots.