Energy Innovators Unveil a New Kind of Microgrid for Data Centers

Source: Elisa Wood | · MICROGRIDS NOW · | September 14, 2025

These are the times that make energy innovators rub their hands together in anticipation. Problem and opportunity await them in almost equal measure. Their creative thinking is in high demand.

Today’s problem? It’s hard to build new, large-scale power. Renewables face loss of tax incentives and a hostile federal government. And all power plants — fossil fuel and renewables — encounter various development challenges that can take years to overcome.

Then there’s the opportunity: Demand for electricity is higher than it’s been in decades.

In short, the world needs more power but it’s hard to build.

Where microgrids fit in

Microgrids are emerging as a solution because they can be installed relatively quickly and avoid interconnection delays.

But microgrids are also changing — being reinvented for the times.

A new microgrid introduced by industry giants Eaton and Siemens offers a good example.

The companies came together after noting some troubling market activity. They saw data center developers rushing into long-term energy contracts in a kind of frenzy born out of a perception that power is becoming scarce. Some of the deals have raised eyebrows, such as the reopening of the Three Mile Island nuclear plant.

The modular, mega microgrid

With these problems in mind, Eaton and Siemens developed a gas-fired microgrid that fast-tracks development and construction by as much as two years. It’s built in a modular fashion, allowing blocks of power to be added over time as the data center’s business expands. And while it’s a microgrid by definition – because it’s built onsite and can operate independent of the grid or connected to it – it is not “micro” in size. Siemens and Eaton anticipate serving data centers that need as much as 1 GW.