Layer 1 · Where the power comes from
Solar + battery storage
Sites with land and irradiance, usually paired with something firm.
The shape of it
- Lead time
- 18-36 months
- Capital cost
- Falling fast; BESS is the swing cost
- Carbon
- Near zero operational
- Maturity
- proven
Verified 2026-09-06.
The catch
Intermittent. An AI training cluster does not want to stop at dusk, so this is almost never a standalone answer — it is a cost-reducer alongside firm power.
What it actually decides
Excellent at shaving peak cost and emissions. Not a capacity strategy on its own.
What this is powering
A GB200 NVL72 rack draws 120–132 kW and a GB300 pushes 135–200 kW, against a 2026 average rack of about 27 kW. The silicon decision and the power decision are the same decision, made eighteen months apart.
Layer 2 — Silicon · GB200 NVL72 · The 150 W inference option
Weighed against
- Solar + battery storage vs On-site natural gas turbines — Intermittent and clean against firm and fast. Almost always paired rather than chosen.
Others in where the power comes from
- Grid interconnection — 4-5 years typical, approaching 5 on average
- Nuclear PPA (existing plants) — 1-3 years to contract; the plant already exists
- Small modular reactors (SMR) — 2030s for meaningful capacity
- On-site natural gas turbines — 12-24 months, the fastest firm power available
- Behind-the-meter generation — Depends on the generation, but it skips the queue
- Wind PPA — 24-48 months