Original title: Hosting Capacity Assessment of Data Centers with Voltage Ride-Through Capability in Power Systems
Pengyu Ren, Wei Sun, Fei Teng · September 2026
Big data centers use massive amounts of electricity. When power lines experience a voltage disturbance, like a sudden drop in voltage, these facilities might instantly disconnect or switch to backup generators. Suddenly dropping that much power demand can destabilize the entire electrical grid. To study this, researchers created a planning tool that connects whole-grid fault simulations with a detailed model of a data center's internal power systems. The model tracks cooling, computers, and uninterruptible power supply responses to see if the facility can ride through disturbances without disconnecting. The team found that relying only on traditional steady-state planning overestimates how many data centers the grid can safely handle. Adding converter headroom to power supplies helps restore that capacity. Finally, using grid-forming controls provides a safer ride-through margin than grid-following modes under network faults.
Imagine a crowded theater where the lights flicker and the emergency exits are tested. If everyone rushes out at once, the exits jam and people get hurt. In this paper, data centers are like audience members who might leave abruptly during a voltage flicker, and the framework checks if they can stay calm and keep using power by riding through the flicker, preventing a dangerous grid 'jam' from sudden load loss.
Grid operators and data center builders need to plan together to prevent blackouts when voltage problems occur. If data centers disconnect suddenly, they remove large demand and can destabilize the grid, affecting everyone who relies on reliable power.
The abstract doesn't explicitly state limitations, but the results are based on reduced-order response models and the IEEE 118-bus case study, which may not capture all real-world complexities or apply to every grid configuration.
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Hosting Capacity Assessment of Data Centers with Voltage Ride-Through Capability in Power Systems — Pengyu Ren, Wei Sun, Fei Teng
Abstract licence: CC0
Explanation generated by Synthesis from the abstract — it is not the original paper. This is a preprint, so it hasn't necessarily been peer reviewed.