ON.energy has announced it has completed construction of its AI UPS, which it describes as “the first medium-voltage uninterruptible power system engineered for large-scale AI data centers,” at the National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR). ON.energy and NLR will test the system at NLR’s Flatirons Campus near Boulder, Colorado, using the site’s grid simulator and the Advanced Research on Integrated Energy Systems (ARIES) research platform to validate performance under AI data center and grid conditions.
The company is positioning the medium-voltage system for AI campuses facing “steep GPU power transients” and rapid load swings, and for operators targeting improved voltage ride-through. ON.energy says conventional uninterruptible power system (UPS) electrical architectures are not meeting the requirements seen in current AI compute environments, and says the NLR deployment is intended to validate behavior “between grid and compute” during load volatility and grid disturbances.
Under the agreement, NLR will simulate the power profile of an AI data center, including “fast-moving GPU workload spikes,” along with “a full range of grid and off-grid operating conditions.” ON.energy says the testing is intended to validate how the AI UPS stabilizes these loads, protects the data center, and supports the electric grid during disturbance events.
ON.energy also says the Flatirons installation is intended to let customers run their own validation scenarios, and reports it is already drawing interest from hyperscalers. “Customers want to see how a medium-voltage UPS between grid and compute behaves under real grid disturbances and load volatility for their unique GPU-profile,” said Dax Kepshire, President of ON.energy’s Data Center division. “Our deployment at NLR’s Flatirons Campus lets us provide extensive performance validation of our AI UPS meeting each customer’s unique requirements in a controlled environment.”
NLR says the project moved quickly from initial engagement to a deployed test site. “NLR is committed to advancing technologies that improve the flexibility and reliability of the nation’s power systems and at the speed this sector demands,” said Andrew Hudgins, ARIES Laboratory Program Manager. “With ON.energy the teams have gone from first contact through contracting and construction in less than six months here at Flatirons Campus.”
Source: ON.energy
