Flexibility-Aware Framework for Efficient Planner-Initiated Siting of Data Center

TL;DR

This paper presents a proactive siting framework for data centers that leverages operational flexibility to accelerate interconnection and reduce transmission reinforcements, enhancing grid integration efficiency.

Contribution

It introduces a novel planner-initiated siting process combining reliability screening, market-impact assessment, and multi-criteria scoring for pre-certified interconnection locations.

Findings

Operational flexibility expands siting options by up to 21%.

Median prices remain stable despite increased flexibility.

Shift envelopes reduce peak-hour price dispersion by 3.4%.

Abstract

Explosive growth in energy-intensive AI data centers is outstripping the pace of power grid interconnection and transmission expansion. While operational flexibility has been proposed to mitigate this stress, existing processes are often reactive and evaluate projects only after they enter a multi-year interconnection queue. To address this, we introduce a planner-initiated siting framework that integrates (i) reliability-gated screening, (ii) system-wide market-impact assessment under standardized flexibility envelopes (firm, pause, and shift), and (iii) entropy-weighted multi-criteria scoring to produce ranked, pre-certified catalogues of interconnection-ready locations. Applied to a synthetic 2,000-bus Texas power system, the framework demonstrates that operational flexibility expands the siting frontier by 9-17% at 1 GW and 19-21% at 2 GW compared to firm operation. Median all-hour average prices remain essentially unchanged (USD 24.32/MWh for the 2 GW cases), and the shift envelope attenuates peak-hour price dispersion by approximately 3.4% with minimal side effects during off-peak hours. Utilizing pre-certified envelopes to bypass major transmission reinforcements, this workflow enables first energization in 12-18 months, a conservative reduction of 3.5-4 years versus the conventional 5-8 year project-led process. This technology-agnostic framework provides a proactive decision-making tool for system operators and regulators to fast-track large flexible loads while preserving grid reliability and market stability.