Podcast Summary: Currents Ep330: Using Curtailed Power for Data Centers
Host: Todd Alexander (Norton Rose Fulbright)
Guest: John Belizaire (CEO, Saluna Holdings)
Release Date: January 15, 2026
Overview
This episode delves into the growing importance of data centers, especially regarding their intersection with energy production and sustainability. Todd Alexander interviews John Belizaire, CEO of Saluna Holdings, about how Saluna's business model leverages otherwise wasted renewable energy—curtailed power—to build and operate data centers. The discussion explores the feasibility, advantages, technical and financial complexities, and societal implications of “renewable computing”.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. Introduction to Saluna & the Concept of “Renewable Computing”
- Saluna’s Mission:
- Saluna helps renewable power plants suffering from curtailment (i.e., unable to sell all the power produced) by building co-located data centers that use this excess energy.
- Initially focused on bitcoin mining, Saluna is expanding into AI-driven data centers using GPUs.
“We help them solve that problem by building data center projects that are co-located with those power plants and we consume that excess energy…” – John Belizaire [00:54]
2. Curtailment in Renewable Power & Opportunity for Data Centers
- Prevalence of Stranded Power:
- Many plants experience 30–40% curtailment, especially in areas like Texas, leading to massive wasted energy.
- The “McDonald's/Burger King problem”: Renewable developers cluster in optimal resource areas, often leading to local oversupply and curtailment.
- Estimated 250 TWh of energy wasted globally each year—equivalent to 80 million barrels of oil.
“If you look in the right place, there’s plenty of energy to power the future of compute.” – John Belizaire [04:36]
3. Designing 24/7 Data Centers with Intermittent Renewables
- Hybrid Interconnection Approach:
- Data centers interconnect at the same substation as the power plant, accessing:
- Direct curtailed power
- Subtractive energy (otherwise sent to grid)
- Grid power (bidirectional substations)
- Enables rapid deployment (12–18 months) compared to traditional urban data centers (3–5 years).
“We can build a 24 by 7 data center. In fact, it’s even better to build it there because we have a local resource for the power...” – John Belizaire [06:22]
- Data centers interconnect at the same substation as the power plant, accessing:
4. Data Center Demand Projections & Industry Paradigm Shift
- Demand Drivers:
- Cloud adoption continues to accelerate, with AI expected to drive even greater growth as enterprises leverage their own data.
- The traditional model (urban, grid-centric) cannot meet explosive data center and AI compute demand.
- New paradigm: Move compute to where power is abundant (even if remote), then build out connectivity.
- Utilities increasingly require data centers to “bring their own generation.”
“If you change the paradigm… you can actually start to move compute further away from the load center, giving it more access to power…” – John Belizaire [10:40]
5. Flexible Compute as Grid Stabilizer
- Saluna’s Three-Product Model:
- Curtailment mitigation for renewables
- Data center hosting (Bitcoin/AI)
- Flexible compute resource: Like a “battery”, data centers ramp down when grid needs power, ramp up when surplus exists.
- Batchable (non-real-time) applications are ideal for these flexible data centers.
"We’re giving [the grid] a way to effectively store energy with us...we just consume it and turn it into compute, a global resource." – John Belizaire [15:26]
6. Limitations of Flexibility: Real-Time vs. Batch Compute
- Applicability:
- Flexible, interruptible compute is suitable for batch workloads (e.g., AI training) rather than latency-critical apps (e.g., streaming, instant AI chat).
- User experience requirements dictate location and flexibility trade-offs.
“The more batchable applications are the ones that we’re targeting... ones that are resilient to power loss…” – John Belizaire [18:33]
7. Sustainability Concerns & Industry’s Role
- Balancing Growth and Climate Goals:
- There is a societal need to balance rapid growth in compute with the imperative for sustainability.
- Some large data center projects are actually increasing fossil fuel use (refiring coal/gas) to meet demand.
- Policy and user expectations should encourage integration with renewables; technology should help redesign the grid for sustainability.
“Why did we develop the greatest technology seen to man that is destroying the planet?” – John Belizaire [23:18]
8. Can Efficiency Improvements Meet Demand?
- Rebuttal to “Efficiency Solves All” Argument:
- While chips become more efficient, total consumption still rises as more (and larger) devices/applications are deployed (“Jevons Paradox”).
“Unfortunately, when there’s more cake, you just eat more cake.” – John Belizaire [26:50]
9. Capital Demands & Recent Developments at Saluna
- Generate Capital Debt Facility:
- Helps Saluna refinance projects and free equity for further expansion.
- With 1 GW operating/developing and a 2.8 GW pipeline, access to capital is crucial and ongoing.
- Partnerships with sustainability-focused investors (Generate Capital, Spring Lane Capital).
“Our business is capital intensive, so we are constantly in need of capital because we’re always building.” – John Belizaire [29:48]
10. Advice to Renewable and Data Center Developers
- Project Structuring Considerations:
- Credit risk: Can be addressed with credit enhancements or by leveraging high-credit end users (e.g., large AI companies).
- The market for offtake is shifting from traditional utilities/corporates to data centers and emerging AI companies.
- Flexibility and innovation in structuring PPAs and offtake arrangements will be critical.
“I think that there’s just so much need for innovation created by this big technology wave that you’re still going to see a very big surge in the development of power both renewable and nonrenewable…” – John Belizaire [34:35]
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
-
On Location-Based Renewable Development:
“Just like McDonald’s and Burger King are real estate companies, they try to find the best location to sell their burgers… renewable energy is very similar to that.” – John Belizaire [02:46]
-
On Data Center–Grid Relationship:
“It retroactively needs this sort of flexible capability. It’s been desperately trying to get that through batteries. And until we develop long-duration batteries… it’s going to be hard to do that.” – John Belizaire [15:08]
-
On User Behavior and Efficiency:
“As soon as you have more power… you’re just going to use more tokens [compute]. And that’s just the nature of the beast, unfortunately.” – John Belizaire [26:26]
-
On the Need for Creative Market Structures:
“The opportunity is to innovate and find new ways to build more sites and I think that will accelerate development... But it’s going to take some innovation and some open mindedness on the commercial structures that folks are used to.” – John Belizaire [34:10]
Important Timestamps
- [00:54] – Saluna’s business model and definition of “renewable computing”
- [02:16] – Scale and prevalence of stranded/curtailed renewable power
- [06:01] – Building 24/7 data centers using hybrid renewable/grid approaches
- [09:01] – AI-driven demand for compute and the grid’s inability to meet future needs without new paradigms
- [14:41] – Flexible (interruptible) compute as a grid stabilization tool
- [18:20] – Suitability of batch workloads for flexible, co-located data centers
- [20:59] – The tension between data center growth, sustainability, and equitable power costs
- [23:18] – The imperative to align technological progress with climate goals
- [26:07] – Why chip efficiency won’t curb overall power demand
- [28:36] – Saluna’s partnership with Generate Capital and capital strategy
- [31:21] – Structuring projects and advice for power developers in the age of data centers
Tone & Language
- John Belizaire is pragmatic, passionate about sustainability, and emphasizes both the scale of the problem and the innovative potential for solutions.
- Todd Alexander brings a practical, legal, and market-focused perspective, posing questions from the view of developers, financiers, and critics.
Takeaways
- There is significant untapped, renewable “wasted” energy available to power data centers if approached creatively.
- The intersection of energy generation and compute is rapidly evolving, demanding new business, financing, and grid management models.
- Enabling technologies (flexible/interruptible compute, hybrid connection models) and innovative market structures are essential for sustainable growth.
- The path forward requires balancing commercial, technical, and societal imperatives—creativity and open-mindedness will benefit all parties in the energy-compute landscape.