Inside Data Centre Podcast
Who are the people powering the world’s data centers?
Inside Data Centre Podcast is a podcast about the global data center industry, focused on the careers, companies, and conversations shaping modern digital infrastructure. Hosted by Andy Davis, the podcast features interviews with data center professionals, investors, operators, vendors, and industry leaders from around the world. Each episode explores how people enter the data center sector, how their careers develop, and the challenges facing data centers as demand for cloud, AI, and connectivity continues to accelerate. Covering hyperscale, colocation, operations, sustainability, and skills, Inside Data Centre Podcast is essential listening for anyone working in, or looking to work in, the data center industry.
Inside Data Centre Podcast
Power, Grid Constraints and Smarter Data Centre Growth | Live at Datacloud Global Congress 2026
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In the third episode of our series recorded live at Datacloud Global Congress 2026 in Cannes, Andy Davis is once again joined by co-host Rory Flashman from Spa Communications to explore one of the biggest challenges facing the data centre industry: power.
Joining the conversation:
Chris Pennington, Director, Energy and Sustainability, Iron Mountain
Afonso Salema, CEO, Exus Digital
Together, they discuss whether the industry is really at power capacity, or whether data centres need to become smarter, more flexible and more responsive to the grids they depend on.
The conversation looks at how the industry can unlock stranded grid capacity, the role of energy storage and flexible load, and why the traditional approach of simply asking the grid for constant supply may no longer be enough.
Chris and Afonso also explore behind-the-meter power, the differences between the US and European markets, and whether on-site generation is a short-term bridge to grid connection or a longer-term part of the data centre power mix.
The episode also tackles the debate around nuclear, microgrids, renewable energy, affordability, total cost of ownership and the need for data centres to work more closely with TSOs, regulators and local communities.
Recorded live at Datacloud Global Congress 2026 in Cannes.
Key Topics:
- Why access to power has become one of the industry’s biggest challenges
- How data centres can use flexible load and storage to unlock grid capacity
- The role of behind-the-meter power as a bridge to grid connection
- Why power affordability is becoming central to AI infrastructure growth
- The differences between US and European power strategies
- Whether gas can play a viable role in European data centre power
- The future of nuclear, SMRs and grid-connected clean energy
- Why there is no one-size-fits-all solution to power constraints
- How peak shaving and smarter energy use can reduce costs
- The importance of community engagement and listening to local priorities
- Why the industry needs to do more to challenge myths around power, water and local impact
Tune in for a timely conversation on how power is shaping the future of data centre development, why flexibility and affordability matter, and how the industry can work more closely with grids and communities to support sustainable growth.
The Inside Data Centre Podcast is recorded in partnership with DataX Connect, a specialist data centre recruitment company based in the UK. They operate on a global scale to place passionate individuals at the heart of leading data centre companies.
To learn more about Andy Davis and the rest of the DataX team, click here: DataX Connect
The data centre industry is moving faster than ever, and behind the scenes, some seriously smart people are making it all happen. Welcome to the Inside Data Center podcast, where we dive into the stories, insights, and innovations driving real change across the industry. From hyperscale campuses to game-changing technologies, we're talking to the people shaping the future of digital infrastructure. Whether you live and breathe data centers or just want to understand what's powering our connected world, you're in the right place. So we are back.
SPEAKER_04Back at Data Cloud, back in Cannes, back in the sunshine, with only a slight delay to power this morning, which seemed like a pretty relevant conversation to be fair. Seeing how many umbrellas we can get to cover us, call us. Yeah, exactly. The theme of power and cooling. So we are here with Chris Pennington, Director Energy and Sustainability at Iron Mountain and Alfonso Salema, CEO of Excess Digital. Appreciate your time, guys. Massively so. So let's get into it. Happy to be here. Power. Power is the big trend. Power is the thing that everybody is talking about. Are we at capacity? Or does the data center industry need to build smarter?
SPEAKER_02Cool.
SPEAKER_01Well, I I, you know, I think access to power is the big challenge. Um, and I think part of finding access to power is understanding that the paradigm we've had in the past where we just show up, ask for this constant supply from the grid and expect to receive it is going to leave a lot of capacity stranded on the grid. So what we see now is that there's actually lots of capacity on many grids during much of the year, but unlocking access to that means we have to be able to find ways for our data center load to be flexible. So, how can we actually kind of change the shape of how we pull power from the grid to align with when capacity is available and when clean energy is available? And that's a lot of what we're focused on right now with some energy storage systems that can actually carry the load of the data center, the entire data center, for hours in order to unlock access to that stranded capacity that's there for the vast majority of the year.
SPEAKER_00Nice. How funzai. Well, if if you recall, the first time we've spoken years ago.
SPEAKER_05Many years ago.
SPEAKER_00Many years ago, uh, which in this industry you corresponds like three decades, um we spoke about power. We spoke exactly about this power, uh, about the power issue, and uh it was uh out of the radar for most people. Um as you know, I come from a power background, so I've been looking into power grids for over 20 years. And the reality is uh that's a load of question because yes, we are capacity, at the same time, we're not. So when you build something, everything is built for peak peak load, peak consumption, which leaves most of things unused. You go to you go to a power line using EU codes, and um the TSO is going to ramp up that line for three times your actual need. You go to a substation, the same thing happens. So the TSO, of course, there's they're scared, they have no incentive to uh to optimize the grid access uh because all they have is punitive charges if there's a blackout. So um helping the TSO, I think it's the role of the data center industry also to help the TSO on how to make better choices, how to unlock more of the power, especially given how affordability concerns are uh affecting all of Europe and how uh data centers and that trend is starting in the US, their sense are perceived as pushing the affordability uh issue again, raising power prices to the ad consumers. So unless we help the TSOs with it, we're never going to use the full potential of the grid that we have now. Now, having said that, yes, there are constraints. There are effective constraints on the mark uh on the on the power grids uh in Europe that needs to be tackled, but those are almost surgical. It's not the last time I I saw there was a 300 billion plan to operate the European grid. That's wasted money. Because uh instead of moving uh loads to where that capacity is, we're trying to force feed in locations which uh are already strained and shouldn't have shouldn't have additional capacity because otherwise I mean after before a data center, the biggest equipment that humankind ever produced is the power grid. And it's a living organism. So we need to see it as such, and data centers need to adapt to to it in order to unlock, in order to grow. But it's a loaded question because we can spend time, we can spend the entire podcast just discussing one of those.
SPEAKER_04You're absolutely right, it's a loaded question, and and and on that subject, let's get into kind of this idea of like innovation and power behind the meter. This is the the term everybody's talking about using behind the meter power to overcome greek constraints. Is this really a thing here?
SPEAKER_01Oh, so I I live in the US. It's it's a massively effect. Um, of course, we have we have the luxury of uh access to plentiful, cheap natural gas. Um, and so the ability to use on-site power generation, using natural gas, of course, to just really not only accelerate the timeline to power, but gain certainty with when you'll get power. That's that's that's really where it comes in as being added value. And it's just we're seeing it at big scale, yeah. 300, 400, 500 megawatts is not an uncommon size for an on-site generation plant that's being talked about or in design or in development. And it's it's it's a bit concerning, I think, for myself, just because it is very much a short-term solution that has potential long-term impacts. Um, not and not just environmentally, as you can imagine, for just you know burning natural gas, but just the financial commitments. So uh, you know, as a data center operator, we don't naturally go out and invest in power generation plants. And and yet these uh these contracts in order to bring this kind of capacity on site are typically 10, 15, maybe 20 years in length in order to get the average cost of power down to where it's reasonable. So um it's absolutely happening. It's it's happening for the sake of gaining certainty with when power will be available. It is uh hopefully a phenomenon that we see relatively short-lived, I think, because ultimately our customers, they all want to be connected to the grid. Like they want to be supplied by the grid for great reasons. I mean, the grid will over time become cleaner, like it is here in Europe. Um, it'll become more affordable because of clean power. And you just don't get those advantages when you build your power yourself behind the meter with natural gas on site. Um so yes, it's happening. Hopefully, it's a short-lived phenomenon. Um, but only time will tell. I mean he brushes down.
SPEAKER_05We already had on a podcast, the first podcast we recorded about the customer and about how, yeah, what does the customer want? It's kind of the question we have to ask here, isn't it, really? Because it's okay having that solution, but if the customer doesn't want that solution, then it won't happen.
SPEAKER_01Well, they may want it today. They may not want it five years from now.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, but there's also you I mean, you talked on two very relevant points. Uh uh, the first one is yes, uh, so behind the meter is a means of a bridge to power, a bridge to grid uh process. So there's a big pipeline of projects that need to be operating as soon as possible, and you will need that behind the meter to speed it up because the grid timings are not the same as they just set the tiny. But that's one solution. The other one, uh, which is quite quite relevant and it's becoming insanely relevant, is the affordability. Affordability, uh the affordability of AI, the the sustainability of of the big companies, the big AI companies, which um, as you as you've probably seen from all the news that have been uh been coming, they're not they're not great. And they're not great because they're overpaying for power, they're overpaying for the location. So the TCO comes back to the to the forefront. So behind the meter can help on both. But you need to but you need a specific strategy. Am I using this as a bridge to grid? And then I use the grid and then I use that the same equipment. I use, I have uh I have a different use case for the long term, so that I reduce the TCO. Can I also use the grid as as a complementary once I have access to it, so I can further reduce the TCO? There's so much pressure now to deploy that the TCO question has stayed on the back seat, but now it's coming full trend at the front seat, and behind the meter uh will be one of the solutions to push it. Now, there's a difference between US and Europe, very big one. Uh, whereby in Europe you can have both. You can have grid and behind the meter co-living uh um again, that's that's uh an entire podcast where we can work on it. Um, but you can have both. In the US, you don't. Uh the regulator is still frowns uh on it, so it's hard to make that transition. Um, they're starting to have uh a little bit more understanding and see the value of it, especially with initiatives of bring your own uh power into the data center um that you're trying to build. So the the US is now doing going towards that direction, but it's not there yet. And while in Europe it it de facto is. And it probably the only way to make uh Europe competitive versus US is actually focused on bringing uh behind the meter power uh to lower the TCO.
SPEAKER_04But make it more sustainable with that, huh? Yes.
SPEAKER_00Because in Europe it's much cheaper. Uh renewables in in Europe are much cheaper. Uh so that's the de facto, the de facto enable enablement. Like you said, gas in the US is cheap. Gas in Europe is not.
SPEAKER_05I was gonna say, like, do you think we'll see gas in Europe?
SPEAKER_00Well, is it a viable solution in Europe? For some hedge hours, yes. And if you provide services to the grid, yes. Uh if you see it as your base load solution, then you're you're up to a big shock.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and yet also I agreed with I agree with you on that front. And also if you only utilize that power plant for some some peak capability, short time, like your your levelized cost of energy from that plant is massive because all the capacity pots, all the grid capa the the capacity on the gas system charges. Um so it's yeah, it's fundamentally um disadvantaged to try and solve the energy challenge or the power challenge individually, you know, behind the meter, one company each doing its own thing. It's a it's a sys it's a systems problem. So we need to think, you know, holistically, we need to think the grid, putting lots of power onto the grid, lots of resources, lots of different types, but fundamentally trying to you know, everybody kind of going doing their own thing individually, extremely inefficient. Completely agree.
SPEAKER_05But when you look at other solutions, nuclear. We've seen France announce the 90 billion euros of investment this week, yesterday as we're in France, probably should talk about it. And a lot of that's related to the the access to nuclear power. So is again, is that I think there's there's you again it's another podcast. You can go down the community aspect of it as well and the perception of the of that side of power, like what do people actually think? Do they understand it? I think is is one question. But is Nucle is nuclear viable as a civilization?
SPEAKER_00The la the last European big nuclear projects, they all all overshoot and are massively delayed. Let's talk about that. I think the UK will be building ours for yeah, decades and then should it be a big project. Exactly, exactly. So we go back to what we're discussing before the podcast, the the book, How Big Things Are Done. You have the bottom of the list, nuclear, it always overruns, it always uh gets delayed. So, I mean, there are a lot of people claiming that nuclear uh will see a new uh a new boo, a new boom, and there will be a solution. I'm not convinced. I haven't seen it, I haven't seen any evidence. Why is that so?
SPEAKER_05I only have the opposite evidence. I've been doing this podcast for five years, nearly six years, and it's definitely been talked about the whole duration of that. And we and we haven't really progressed.
SPEAKER_00How many times has the nuclear fleet in France has uh had to be intervened by government in order not to uh in order not to die? At least four.
SPEAKER_01So I'm optimistic. I mean, I think in time it it will emerge as a viable solution, but I don't think it's gonna be in this behind the short term solution or something. You know, the small modular reactor concept, I think, is is a great avenue by which the technology can get commercialized and we can get a lot of advantages of of speed and scale and repetition in order to manufacture and bring down the cost and not be overrunning all the time. And yet ultimately, going back to what I just said, like individual companies trying to like solve this on their own with their own nuclear reactor, like it's possible. It's not the most efficient solution. So we need we need more nuclear on the grid, quite frankly. Um, and not a lot of kind of private wire nuclear.
SPEAKER_04To your point earlier, everybody wants to be connected to the grid. Yeah. Some microgrids, nuclear power, SMRs at least, are transitional.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Is the transition worth worth the investment? Massive investment. Some massive investment, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Just if you do, if you price it, if you price it just for the transition, how expensive running that data center would be. Insanely expensive. You need to pass that cost someone.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00So you pass on to the final customer. So if people are already complaining that they're they're overshooting on token consumption and that their budgets on tokens are being evaporated on the first days of the month. Um if you multiply that cost by five, doesn't make sense. And that's the question. And that's the question that we need to ask. Nuclear can be a path. I agree with that. I've been industrial, I love the nuclear technology. I just haven't seen evidence of being cheap and meeting its deadlines. And that's what I I'd love to be proven wrong. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04This probably brings us on to our next question perfectly as well, because we're talking about kind of power challenges. Are they the same in Europe as the US? Do we do it do we see the same things happening?
SPEAKER_05I think you can even break that down by country as well.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_05Like the US very much.
SPEAKER_00So it depends. There are you have some common themes at the top. Uh, but then uh as you start digging it up, even in the node, in a specific node, it's not the same problem as in another power node. So that idea that that you could have a one uh a one size fits all solution falls apart. Now, there are common themes. The affordability theme for the end customer, and if data centers coming into the grid will ramp up their cost bills, and uh it they will if they only use Powerbridge. So the bring your own power mentality is a great concept and it should be pushed for. Uh, but as you said, as a holistic system, as everyone connected to the grid and contributing to the same, not as an isolated, isolated means. Um, so that's the most common theme. But as you start coming down, like uh, I mean, Tolstoy used to say, all families aren't happy, but each family is unhappy on their own way. It's exactly the same thing. This is exactly the same thing.
SPEAKER_02Interesting.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, the we are electrifying so quickly that capacity is being consumed. And so I think I think that is one of those high-level themes we see everywhere. I don't I haven't I don't know of a single market where they're like, we're sitting around with like a plenty of capacity and like we're in a very fluid area where everybody wants to be, why is nobody doing it's like that doesn't exist. So um so I think yeah, capacity is a is a common issue. I think what's different is that we see because of the large-scale deployment of renewables across parts of Europe, like affordability is is proving to be very closely connected to um to flexibility, I would say, in terms of if you if you have the ability to use power at certain times a day, you can have very low prices. And so that's emerging as like an awareness, I think, more here in Europe than we see in the US. Um, just because a lot of our grids just simply don't have as much renewable penetration for the most part, is what we see across some of the markets in in Europe.
SPEAKER_05And that's when you see like different use cases for different geographies. But yeah, we'll we'll build our learning, machine learning data center here, could be we'll build our cloud, could be.
SPEAKER_01Or we just think about storage in ways that the load can be flexible.
SPEAKER_00Which brings which brings back to your first question. Are we using the grid efficiently? And like like you said, uh, I mean, this phenomenon is not new. I mean, peak shaving has been used by many industries in the past. The data center industry was not using it because they didn't need to. Right. But now that we're forced to rethink of solutions that already exist and be more efficient about it, peak shaving is amazing. It can lower your your your power your power bill, but you need to be smart about it.
SPEAKER_05And when you talk about community engagement, again, which will come up on every podcast we talk about here over the next few days, because it's such a big topic now. That's how we can help change the perception of the industry is it from the utilization of power to benefit the the community as well as the customer.
SPEAKER_00And and that uh again, coming from power, uh, when I got into the data center industry, it was a shock on how little the data center industry does to to break the myths that are created uh along communities. I mean, the power industry has been doing that for decades uh successfully. Uh and we are, like you said, everyone is still trying to run their own thing instead of joining forces and let's start dismystifying. We're not here to increase your power bills, we're not here to drink all your water. We are more efficient than that. We know what we're doing, let's show that. And I think the data center industry needs to be much more vocal and united in doing this.
SPEAKER_01And that's that's and that so that community engagement piece is more and more critical. More and more projects are being blocked. Uh especially now what it's hard in the US at the moment. Certainly. Certainly, for sure. I think I think I think one of the underlying challenges here is that um we are a business-to-business type industry. Yes. Um, and more than that, we're generally full of engineers. And and so like we're probably not we don't have the right DNA in most cases to show up and like listen to a community and talk about things that matter to them because we're, you know, we're gonna show up and talk about how evaporative cooling actually uses less water than a highly electrified data site. It's like, no, like people aren't going to understand our business the same way that we do. And so I think we just we have not done a great job and we're still trying to make progress to find ways to meet people where they are and have the right conversations. And I think that power is one of these places that we can bring real value to the community. We can show up and say, we can make your grid more reliable. We can actually put downward pressure on pricing for you by putting more power on that existing infrastructure. Like we can do these things that impact the kitchen table economics that I think will make an impact um to the community directly.
SPEAKER_00And if you go to communities where um where large power uh stations used to lie, whatever type of power, uh, what you'll find is you'll find a willing community that understands economics of big infrastructure and they understand the impact, especially if that a power plant is about to be decommissioned, you have so many families which will will lose their jobs and the multiplying effect disappears. So and that's why I was saying the power industry did a good job uh setting up that zone. We should use that. We should use some of those examples to to relate better with the community.
SPEAKER_04It's interesting that you say that. I was out at uh Terra Wolf in Buffalo like literally two weeks ago. I mean, just uh the scale of what they're building there is just absolutely phenomenal, like absolutely incredible. It's really interesting to hear how, first of all, they've taken this old disused coal plant and reconverted it into renewable power. And then, second of all, how the community surrounding that power station, like so many people have lost their jobs and they're they're at power distance, so they just went and rehired it. Of course. I and all of a sudden you hear this kind of you begin to realize that actually there is a really good catalyst with changes. And to your point, Chris, like I think um the industry's now increasing mindful of this. So I think that's one. We're a new industry, it's a really positive step forward. But it's certainly like Andy and myself have been talking about this for absolutely ages. Like, how do we bring people together? It was one of the reasons we founded the DCMC initiative. How do you actually bring marketers, public affairs, people, PR, comms people together to actually start addressing these problems of kind of a wider industry level instead of everyone running into the same brick walls in silos, because ultimately everyone's trying to achieve its own goals. I think it's about being responsible and being open enough to talk about it and say, we haven't got it figured out, right?
SPEAKER_00And you'll find what do you find with communities, which is the most interesting? And again, like you said, we're mostly of us are engineers and we completely fail at that. But when you start running the exercise, the most interesting thing uh that you'll find is that communities, most of them, they just want to be heard.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Listen, literally listen to just want to be heard.
SPEAKER_05You've got to listen to the community. I think that's a key part of this conversation. It's it's not about us telling communities what we're doing, it's about us listening to what their challenges are and solving their challenges. Again, that's what the industry is getting much better at. I think previously we just go into a community, tell them what we're gonna do, tell them how they're benefit, and they're like, hang on a minute.
SPEAKER_00I I actually got told off by uh when I was doing one of these community sessions and say, we're sick of companies who come here, say that they'll do big things, they buy an ambulance, they take some photos, they leave away, and there's nothing here. Why don't we need the ambulance, we need other things. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04It's a it's a good point. Less uh less talk, more action. A publicity to your point shouldn't be used as kind of a vehicle just to kind of say achieve the objective that you're trying to achieve from a commercial level. It actually needs to be responsible and leave something behind so you create, I suppose, a a legacy, the communities in which you're building it.
SPEAKER_01And be prepared to have that be something very local, very specific to the whole community. There are many communities who might need that ambulance. Uh exactly, but but don't assume that everybody does.
SPEAKER_04Or at least not just one anyway. Exactly. Exactly. So, guys, we are we are at time. Really, really appreciate you taking the time to speak with us. I have to ask you the marketing question. So uh so just in terms of uh the event, what's really excited you so far and what you're looking forward to?
SPEAKER_01Well, it's just getting started, but the uh the award ceremony was last night. We won uh Best Global Beta Center Operator Year for the second year in a row. So that's been the most exciting thing for us.
SPEAKER_05Retained your title. Well done.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, nice. Yeah, multi-award winner now. Yeah, yeah. Uh yeah. So it's been it's been brilliant.
SPEAKER_00So it's just started, but it's um I think the the thing that has struck me the most is to see uh first of all how this conference is growing, but also how some some some small companies, and we were talking about one uh a few minutes ago, that uh three, four years ago they were tiny, and now they're massive. They're throwing a party in a yard. I mean, the industry is growing a lot, and with it it cut you have new new companies coming in, being very successful. Uh, and it's great to see them here.
unknownRight.
SPEAKER_05I think events are a great place to realize the scale of that growth because we're all in it, we live it, we breathe it all day, every day. You don't really notice it too much, and you come back a year later and you realize there's double the amount of the people, yeah. There's another flaw in the in the building, which I found out 10 minutes ago. Um, yeah, I think the scale of this industry is a lot off the scale now, hang it. And and they're they're already forecasting bigger next year. Are they really? But enjoy the event. Thanks both for coming on.
SPEAKER_00Thank you.
SPEAKER_05Thanks for the that's it for this episode of the Inside Data Centre Podcast. Thanks for tuning in. This show is brought to you by Data X and Data Exec, the recruitment partners powering global talent across the data centre and digital infrastructure world. If you enjoyed today's conversations, don't forget to follow, like, and subscribe. It really helps us grow the podcast community. Stay tuned for more stories, insights, and conversations with the people shaping the future of our industry.