Microsoft wants to revamp its data centers to save space

Microsoft wants to design more efficient data centers using materials that allow electricity to flow without any resistance. If these new materials, called high-temperature superconductors, can reach the market, Microsoft believes they could be a game-changer for how we build data centers and the power infrastructure that connects to them.

Technology companies are Facing backlash About how much energy generating AI requires, the delays in connecting to power grids that lack the infrastructure to meet those demands, and the impact of building new data centers on local residents. High-temperature superconductors (HTS) will potentially reduce the amount of space needed for a data center and the transmission lines that power it.

“Microsoft is exploring how this technology can make electrical grids stronger and reduce the impact of data centers on neighboring communities,” Alastair Spears, Microsoft’s general manager of global infrastructure marketing, wrote in a blog post published today.

Today’s power centers – and most of our energy infrastructure – rely on ancient copper wires, which conduct electricity very efficiently. However, HTS cables can transmit electrical current with zero resistance, reducing the amount of energy lost in the process. It also allows for lighter and more compact cables. You’ll already find HTS in MRI machines, and they have recently been used on short distances of power lines in dense urban areas including Paris and chicago.

However, until now, their use has been limited in part because HTS cables have been more complex and expensive to use in power systems than copper cables. To reach zero resistance, HTS must be cooled to very low temperatures – most likely using liquid nitrogen. The HTS “ribbon” that forms the basis of superconducting cables is usually made of rare earth copper barium oxide. While superconducting cable only requires a small amount of rare earth material, the supply chain for rare earth is still largely Concentrated in China. That’s the biggest challenge, experts say Edgethe manufacturing capacity of this tape will be increased enough to be affordable.

This is beginning to change as a result of Power requirements for generative artificial intelligence. In recent years, technology companies have increased research in the field Development of a nuclear fusion power plantlong considered the holy grail of clean energy. Much of the HTS tape manufactured today goes into fusion research, and growth in this segment has reduced material costs.

“It actually helped the supply chain and manufacturing diversify, and even some of the HTS costs… for us, like, OK, let’s think about that. Now things have changed a little bit,” says Hossam Al-Issa, director of systems technology at Microsoft.

Microsoft is primarily interested in using HTS in two ways, Alissa says Edge. Within a data center, smaller cabling allows for greater flexibility in how electrical rooms and hardware racks are placed. Funded by Microsoft, Massachusetts-based superconducting company VEIR Proven Last year, HTS cables in the data center were able to deliver the same amount of power with an approximately 10-fold reduction in cable dimensions and weight compared to traditional alternatives.

“The superconducting data center of the future will be…higher power, more efficient, and more compact,” says Ziad Melhem, a practicing professor in the Department of Physics at Lancaster University and a member of the editorial board of the Global Superconductivity Alliance. (Melhem revealed that he previously worked at Oxford Instruments, which supplied Microsoft with components for its quantum computer system.)

Outside of the data center, Microsoft is open to working with energy companies to support the construction of long-distance power lines using HTS. Expanding transmission lines has been one of the biggest bottlenecks when it comes to modernizing the power grid, connecting data centers, and building more energy supplies. The process of obtaining approvals to build such large infrastructure across multiple jurisdictions can be long and arduous.

With power lines made of HTS, the space needed for these power lines can be greatly reduced. While overhead transmission lines may spread over an area about 70 meters wide, superconducting cables may only need two meters of clearance, according to a Microsoft blog. The smaller footprint ostensibly reduces the time and cost of construction.

“This is a clear advance in the use of this technology,” says Dennis White, a professor of nuclear science and engineering at MIT. White did not work directly for Microsoft, but he co-led an effort to build a fusion machine called Spark This is a collaboration between MIT and a company called Commonwealth Fusion Systems He received funding from Bill Gates’ company Breakthrough Energy Ventures.

The additional interest in HTS for data centers could also allow fusion companies to get more material for less money, helping drive advances in nuclear fusion technology as well. Microsoft has The deal was signed separately With another company Development of a fusion power plant In Washington state. “The circle has come full circle,” White says.