FREE APPLIED LESSON · TEST EDITION

Can this data centre fit its connection?

Turn an IT-load proposal into a facility-demand assessment, then test the assumptions that could change the decision.

Allow 25–35 minutes. You need MW, MWh and basic multiplication; start with the foundation lesson if these are new. All case numbers are invented, not project advice or a connection offer. No account or payment is required.

1. Start at the right boundary

A developer proposes 40 MW of constant IT demand. For this simplified day, facility demand is a constant 1.25 times IT demand. The assumed permitted grid import is 55 MW; no on-site generation or routine battery charging is included.

IT equipment

40 MW
Computing load only.

Facility overhead

10 MW
The assumed cooling, distribution and other facility loads.

Facility demand = 40 × 1.25 = 50 MW

Daily energy = 50 × 24 = 1,200 MWh

PUE is a ratio of total facility energy to IT energy over a declared period and boundary. Multiplying MW by PUE is a simplification valid here because the load and ratio are explicitly constant. Annual measured PUE is not automatically a peak-power multiplier.

References checked 4 October 2026: Australian Government data-centre guidance and US DOE definitions of PUE and WUE. These explain measurement, not this site's connection approval.

2. Challenge the comfortable base case

Base-case headroom is 55 − 50 = 5 MW. On a hypothetical hot day, the concurrent facility-to-IT power ratio rises to 1.40 with IT demand unchanged. Calculate demand before opening the check.

Check the hot-condition result

40 × 1.40 = 56 MW: a 1 MW exceedance. The base case fits, but this assumed operating condition does not. The import limit has not changed.

If the 1.40 ratio were fixed and IT were the only adjustable load, the simple ceiling is 55/1.40 ≈ 39.29 MW of IT. That is a mathematical screen, not proof the workload can be curtailed or an approved operating limit. Cooling dynamics, other loads and the actual service obligation require study.

Request coincident load and weather profiles, transformer and connection limits, commissioning stages, disturbance behaviour and verified flexibility. Assess control failures and rebound demand as well as normal operation. Do not assume an average annual efficiency improvement cures a peak constraint.

3. Separate connection capacity from backup

The site proposes 5 MWh of usable energy already measured at the critical-load delivery boundary. Critical load is a constant 20 MW. Assume sufficient inverter power and no further losses for this screen.

Ideal backup duration = 5 ÷ 20 × 60 = 15 minutes

That does not provide 15 minutes for the full 50 MW facility, nor does it establish a redundant supply. Verify which cooling and auxiliary systems belong inside the critical boundary, start and transfer times, recharge, maintenance state, fuel logistics and common-mode failures. Real switching and electrical design require authorised specialists.

Try a different case

Use 6 MWh delivered energy and 24 MW critical demand. Duration remains 15 minutes. At 30 MW critical demand it falls to 12 minutes. The same battery energy supports different durations as the required service changes.

4. Do not confuse annual matching with firm supply

Suppose two one-hour intervals each need 50 MWh. A renewable project produces 100 MWh in the first interval and zero in the second. Totals match at 100 MWh, but there is a 50 MWh first-interval surplus and a 50 MWh second-interval shortfall.

A contract can allocate financial exposure; it does not move that energy through time without additional arrangements. Assess residual purchases, firming, location, commissioning date, volume changes and environmental-attribute terms separately. Do not claim uninterrupted renewable supply from a matched annual total alone.

5. Write the decision, not just the calculation

Before the quiz, write a short recommendation containing the base-case demand, stressed exceedance, backup duration, three missing inputs and the next approval gate. You should be able to defend it without reopening the worked checks.

Compare with a bounded recommendation

“The 50 MW base load fits the assumed 55 MW import limit. The hot-condition screen reaches 56 MW and needs a verified remedy. The proposed 5 MWh supports the defined 20 MW critical load for an ideal 15 minutes only. Proceed to detailed connection, resilience and procurement studies; do not treat these calculations as energisation approval.”

What this connects

Power and energy → cooling efficiency → network limits → storage duration → procurement → investment gates. In the full knowledge base these connect Topics 1, 5, 22, 23, 37, 41 and 42.

Self-review: check units, calculation reproducibility, explicit assumptions and whether your recommendation stays within the evidence. This exercise is not independently marked and does not establish an analyst grade.