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September 18, 2025
Ameresco Appointed as Engineering Service Provider for Kimberly-Clark UK Hydrogen Boiler Projects
By: Nicole Bulgarino – President of Federal Solutions & Utility Infrastructure, Ameresco
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From healthcare to aviation, artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly being used to close operational gaps and garner efficiencies in key industries. Indeed, 78% of respondents in McKinsey’s State of AI Survey for 2025 indicated that their organization is using AI for at least one business function. This year and beyond, the question of AI adoption is no longer “if” AI adoption will take hold, but “how fast” and “where next.” As tech evangelists at the world’s largest enterprises drive AI-first operations forward, their latest milestones are proof that AI’s capabilities are not slowing down anytime soon.
However, what does stand to threaten AI growth is the declining availability of energy resources to sustain this technology’s massive power needs. According to Deloitte, advanced AI models, such as generative AI, will cause global data center power demands to double by 2030. Further, as AI becomes more closely integrated with critical services, bolstering power supply will be necessary for mission-critical facilities such as hospitals and transportation hubs to sustain integral services.
To ensure that AI growth does not come at the expense of operational continuity, mission-critical organizations must look to cultivate energy resilience. The power sector has a valuable role to play in advancing this goal by supporting upgrades to existing energy infrastructure and championing new infrastructure developments.
Military-Grade Resilience in Action
When it comes to models of energy resilience, energy leaders do not have to reinvent the wheel. The defense sector has long championed innovative infrastructure solutions to maintain operations independent of the main grid. Ultimately, to sustain integral AI-driven services, civilian energy networks must adopt military-level standards of resilience.
An example of this rapid dispatch model was recently exhibited at Joint Forces Training Base (JFTB) Los Alamitos. JFTB is a facility tasked with supporting the essential training of more than 6,000 National Guard and Reserve troops. In the event of a national disaster, JFTB quickly transforms into a response hub for preparing and deploying forces, preparing aid, and transporting equipment.
In early 2025, JFTB’s energy response plan was put to the test when a foil balloon collided with a nearby electrical line leading to a power surge and subsequent grid outage. JFTB maintained electricity during the outage using a microgrid that combines 13 MW of single axis tracking solar photovoltaic generation, a 20-MWh battery energy storage system (BESS), and 3 MW of Tier IV Final reciprocating engine generators. In less than 30 seconds, the microgrid, which continuously monitors utility availability on the main grid, sensed the outage and disconnected, seamlessly providing independent power to JFTB. When the main grid power was restored after five minutes, the microgrid transitioned the installation back to the main utility power.
Though momentary, this grid outage and “islanding” event demonstrated a level of energy reliability that is not only necessary for defense missions, but an emerging standard for entities like hospitals, airports, and more, which provide critical services and leverage energy-intensive AI operations. This real-world scenario highlights what is possible with advanced resilience infrastructure and sets an example for reliability measures that can be replicated in the civilian space. However, the civilian sector has much progress to make toward adopting this level of resilience.
From Bases to Bedside: The Expanding Role of Resilience
Across industries, maintaining operations amid grid disruptions remains a global challenge. This issue was recently exemplified by a power outage at London’s Heathrow Airport. Due to a fire at a local substation, the global travel hub was forced to shut down for 16 hours resulting in dozens of diverted London-bound flights and mass cancellations.
Industry responses to the closure echo a dire need for more robust energy infrastructure and comprehensive contingency plans. But Heathrow and the aviation industry at large are not alone in the resilience struggle. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has recognized the critical risk that power outages pose in hospitals and other healthcare facilities. For patients relying on durable medical equipment or in need of emergency care, even the shortest outage can pose the greatest threat to well-being.
To note, these resilience challenges primarily account for conventional power needs, accounting for new AI energy demands only highlight energy disparities further. While it is challenging to calculate industry-specific AI power consumption, RAND estimates that total AI energy needs in the U.S. could reach 68 GW by 2027 (for reference the state of California’s total power capacity ranks near 88 GW).
While the data center energy demands of industries like healthcare and transportation pale in comparison to the technology sector, these critical services may still be impacted as increased power needs exert load on the shared grid, increasing the likelihood of local power outages and blackouts. In an age of rapid AI development, access to alternative energy sources and rapidly dispatchable power is no longer a “nice-to-have” but an operational necessity.
The Power Sector’s Role in Bolstering Energy Mix
The complex energy needs of mission-critical industries will require equally involved energy solutions, and the power sector is uniquely positioned to accelerate resilience objectives. While incorporating a single energy alternative, such as renewable generation, is a valuable starting point, a diversified energy mix is key to true reliability. The power sector will be a catalyst in helping organizations explore a variety of advanced energy solutions.
One of the important ways the power sector can support organization resilience is through the deployment and management of distributed energy resources (DERs). The growing importance of firm generation, solutions that deliver consistent, 24/7 power, is critical in today’s energy landscape. Technologies such as advanced energy storage, microgrids, and other firm, dispatchable assets reduce reliance on the main grid and provide greater reliability during outages and grid instability.
Case in point, during longer grid disruptions, JFTB’s ability to garner continuous power is sustained through the combination of solar generation, storage, and engine generators. Specifically, for outages longer than four hours, the JFTB microgrid pulls power from the solar PV system, then battery storage, and finally engine generators, returning to solar generation during the daytime.
Energy solution developers and public utilities play a pivotal role in designing, commissioning, and maintaining these diversified energy networks. With the advantages of both regulatory expertise and financial backing, the power sector can support mission-critical organizations in achieving funding and permitting for new energy installations.
Beyond building energy installations for existing facilities, the power sector is also crucial for standalone developments or “building new infrastructure from scratch.” The Kūpono Solar Project, located on the U.S. Navy’s Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, is an example of such a project. Kūpono Solar leverages 131 acres of Navy land for a utility-scale 42-MW solar array paired with a 42-MW BESS. This standalone facility delivers power to nearly 10,000 local homes on O’ahu through Hawaiian Electric’s (HECO) local grid network. When considering factors such as renewable energy potential and serving the needs of rapidly evolving communities, developing new infrastructure from the ground up can be a necessary and strategic initiative.
Furthermore, as today’s DER systems are equipped with controls for real-time performance monitoring and interconnection, power sector collaboration is critical for ongoing load balancing. To detect grid failures, adjust energy usage according to availability, and optimize dispatch, mission-critical organizations must receive continuous data from local utilities through grid interconnection. Ongoing grid feedback also enables systems to optimize energy usage autonomously saving mission-critical organizations time and labor costs of daily maintenance.
Lastly, power providers offer organizations economic incentives to invest in advanced energy networks. Namely, power purchase agreements (PPAs) provide an opportunity for organizations to derive new revenue streams. By providing energy, capacity, and grid services to the local utilities network, organizations are compensated using competitive pricing mechanisms. The JFTB microgrid exemplifies this benefit as it provides power to San Diego Gas & Electric via the wholesale electric market. Kūpono Solar is another example of a large-scale PPA.
New Stakes for the Power Sector
Amid a rapidly evolving energy landscape, the stakes are higher than ever for the power sector to bolster resilient energy infrastructure. Concurrently, the rise in AI-first operations and unprecedented power needs leave mission-critical organizations vulnerable to debilitating grid disruptions and power outages. This confluence of factors raises the opportunity for cross-industry synergy between power leaders and critical services. Through strategic, public-private partnerships, investing in today’s energy resilience will set the foundation for tomorrow’s AI-powered growth.
# Originally published on PowerMag.com #
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