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TL;DR
Vantage reserved more than 1 gigawatt of factory capacity for Heron Power solid-state transformers that convert grid power to 800-volt DC. Separately, NiSource and Microsoft signed a 20-year power deal adding about 1,100 megawatts of generation and a 600-megawatt battery. The agreements reflect growing interest in DC distribution and storage, but do not establish that the technology’s projected efficiency and cost benefits have been independently verified.
Vantage reserved more than 1 gigawatt of factory capacity for Heron Power solid-state transformers designed to convert grid electricity directly to 800-volt direct current, while a separate Microsoft-NiSource agreement adds generation and a large battery. The October deals highlight how AI data-center growth is prompting new approaches to power delivery, though claims about efficiency and savings remain largely vendor projections.
Heron Power’s transformer is designed to connect grid power to an 800-volt DC system, with battery storage integrated into the equipment. Vantage’s reservation is for factory capacity, not confirmation that more than a gigawatt of equipment has been installed or is already supplying data centers. The source material does not provide a delivery schedule or identify specific sites covered by the reservation.
On October 16, NiSource and Microsoft signed a 20-year power deal that, according to the source, adds about 1,100 megawatts of generation and a 600-megawatt battery. The arrangement is distinct from Vantage’s equipment reservation: it concerns power supply and storage rather than an 800-volt conversion order. The available material does not give the battery’s energy capacity in megawatt-hours or specify the generation technology.
An October 26 Utility Dive article, sponsored by inverter maker SMA America, argues that converting medium-voltage AC to 800-volt DC outside a data-center building could reduce conversion losses. Its white-paper model estimates losses of about 80 kilowatts when delivering 1 megawatt through a traditional AC chain, compared with about 20 kilowatts in the proposed DC arrangement. Those are vendor-model estimates, not independently reported measurements of operating facilities.
Infographic 01 · From grid to rack
AI racks near a megawatt are outgrowing the AC power chain.
Why the industry is moving to 800-volt direct current: fewer conversions, less copper, batteries on the main path. The numbers are vendor figures with different baselines, so they cannot be added up.
Today: many conversions
Typical AC chain from the grid to the rack
- Medium-voltage AC from the grid
- Transformer steps it down to low-voltage AC
- UPS converts to DC for the batteries and back to AC
- Distribution units feed the racks
- Every server power supply converts AC to DC again
Each stage loses energy, and almost all of the loss becomes heat the cooling system must remove.
800 V DC: convert once, outside
NVIDIA reference design, full-scale production planned with Kyber racks in 2027
- 13.8 kV AC from the grid
- Converted once to 800 V DC at the edge of the site, batteries on the same DC bus
- 800 V DC busway to the racks
- Stepped down inside the rack, for 1 MW racks and beyond
Bridge for existing halls: a “sidecar” cabinet next to the rack converts AC to 800 V DC, while the old chain stays in place.
Power lost per MW delivered to the rack
kW, SMA white-paper model vendor model
What NVIDIA says 800 V DC changes
NVIDIA’s engineering claims claim
Sources: NVIDIA technical blog (20 May 2025, updated 31 Jul 2025); SMA America, sponsored content in Utility Dive (26 Oct 2026). Rack density: IEA, Key Questions on Energy and AI (Apr 2026) (AI server power density 11× from 2020 to 2025, a further 4× by 2027).
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Power Design Moves Beyond the Rack
The immediate issue for AI operators is not only how many chips they can buy, but whether facilities can deliver power to increasingly dense racks. The International Energy Agency says AI-server power density rose 11-fold from 2020 to 2025 and is projected to quadruple again by 2027. It estimates that a rack could then reach peak demand comparable to 65 households. Those projections help explain why operators are considering higher-voltage DC distribution, which can carry more power through conductors of a given size than lower-voltage systems.
Storage could also serve a role beyond backup during outages. The IEA says rapid changes in AI workloads can create large power swings, and estimates 20–25 gigawatts of batteries could be installed at data centers by 2030. Batteries might help smooth those swings or support the grid, but the IEA’s possibility depends on suitable incentives and operating arrangements. The source does not establish how much of the forecast is committed or how costs and benefits would be shared.
Grid expansion affects communities as well as technology companies. The source cites U.S. residential electricity prices averaging 18.21 cents per kilowatt-hour in 2026, compared with 17.30 cents in 2025, and a 41% increase in wholesale prices in the PJM region. Those figures do not, by themselves, show that data centers caused the price changes. Who pays for new generation and transmission remains a contract- and location-specific question.
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From AC Server Rooms to 800 Volts
Most data centers use alternating current through much of their power systems. Electricity is stepped down, passes through uninterruptible power supplies and distribution equipment, and is converted to low-voltage DC for servers. Each conversion can lose energy, much of which becomes heat that cooling systems must remove. Conventional designs served racks drawing tens of kilowatts; AI systems are pushing facilities toward much higher rack loads.
NVIDIA’s 800-volt DC reference design proposes converting 13.8-kilovolt grid power near the facility perimeter and distributing DC to racks. NVIDIA says a 1-megawatt rack supplied at 54 volts could require up to 200 kilograms of copper busbar, and claims its approach would use 45% less copper than 415-volt AC distribution and improve end-to-end efficiency by up to 5% compared with current 54-volt systems. It has said full-scale production with Kyber systems is planned for 2027. These are company claims, not independent performance findings.
Operators may adopt DC in stages rather than replace existing halls. SMA describes a “sidecar” conversion cabinet beside a rack, allowing DC equipment to connect within facilities that retain much of their existing AC infrastructure. The approach reflects the cost and complexity of retrofitting data centers while power demand continues to grow.
Infrastructure timelines add pressure. The source, citing the IEA, says transformers can take two to three years to arrive and grid connections can take five to ten years in some locations. Berkeley Lab data cited in the source put U.S. interconnection requests at about 2,300 gigawatts at the end of 2024, while only 13% of earlier requests were ultimately built. Queue totals represent proposed projects, not guaranteed construction.
“Leaving no room for compute”
— NVIDIA, in its 800 VDC technical blog
Deployment, Costs and Grid Effects
The available information does not show when Vantage’s reserved factory capacity will turn into delivered equipment, how much will be deployed, or which facilities will use it. Nor does it provide independent, real-world tests confirming the efficiency, copper savings or maintenance-cost reductions claimed by NVIDIA and SMA. The SMA comparison is based on a sponsored white-paper model.
Details of the NiSource-Microsoft deal are also limited: the source does not identify the generation type, project locations, battery duration, or how the added supply and costs will be allocated. The data cited on household bills and PJM wholesale prices does not isolate the effect of data-center demand. The scale and timing of any impact will depend on local grid conditions, new infrastructure, contracts and regulation.
Watch for Orders and Site Plans
The next evidence will be whether Vantage’s capacity reservation leads to equipment deliveries and named deployments, and whether the NiSource-Microsoft agreement produces detailed project schedules and operating plans. Operators and utilities will also need to show how batteries connect to sites, how long they can discharge, and whether they will provide grid services.
NVIDIA has cited 2027 for planned full-scale production of its Kyber systems using the 800-volt design. Until systems operate at scale and independent data become available, the projected savings should be treated as targets or model results rather than demonstrated outcomes. Grid connection timelines and the allocation of costs to companies and electricity customers remain central issues.
Key Questions
What did Vantage reserve?
Vantage reserved more than 1 gigawatt of factory capacity for Heron Power solid-state transformers designed to convert grid electricity to 800-volt DC. The reservation does not establish that the equipment has been delivered or installed.
What does 800-volt DC change for a data center?
It would distribute power at a higher DC voltage than conventional low-voltage server systems, potentially reducing conversion stages and the amount of conductor needed for very high-power racks. Specific efficiency and copper benefits cited here are company claims or vendor-model estimates, not independently verified results.
What is included in the Microsoft-NiSource deal?
The source says the 20-year agreement adds about 1,100 megawatts of generation and a 600-megawatt battery. It does not provide the battery’s storage duration or identify the generation technology.
Will data-center batteries lower household electricity bills?
That is not established. Batteries may help manage data-center load or support the grid, but results depend on how they are operated, local grid conditions and the incentives in place. The cited price figures do not prove that data centers caused electricity price increases.
Source: ThorstenMeyerAI.com
