TerraFlow Energy and DG Matrix have signed a commercial agreement to deploy an integrated vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) and solid-state transformer (SST) architecture in the US, intended to directly power a live high-performance computing cluster.
The initial deployment combines TerraFlow Energy’s LDUPS long-duration uninterruptible power system with DG Matrix’s Interport solid-state transformer technology and Dell PowerEdge servers. The companies describe the goal as putting the power architecture into operation against real compute loads, with the system designed to manage power flow among the grid, on-site generation, energy storage, and compute in real time.
In the proposed setup, TerraFlow’s LDUPS is intended to provide millisecond response for UPS behavior while also supplying “hours of energy capacity,” so it can buffer changes in compute demand. DG Matrix’s Interport is described as providing programmable solid-state power conversion, routing, and control between power sources and the compute load. Together, the companies say the architecture is designed to absorb rapid load changes before they propagate upstream into the grid and other electrical infrastructure.
That “between the grid and the compute” placement is the interesting engineering detail. If the system can actually smooth sharp step loads at the facility boundary while still meeting fast UPS ride-through requirements, it could reduce how much volatility a utility or upstream electrical path sees from high-performance compute, which increasingly behaves like a highly dynamic load rather than a steady one.
“We have to change how these enormous loads connect to and interact with the grid,” said Jon Parrella, CEO of TerraFlow Energy. “By putting long-duration storage and intelligent power distribution between the grid and the compute, we can give data centers the power performance they need without asking the grid to absorb every movement in demand.”
The agreement also sets a framework for TerraFlow Energy and DG Matrix to pursue data center projects beyond the initial deployment, with a focus on AI and high-performance computing sites that need tighter control over how power is delivered, managed, and exchanged with the grid.
“Solid-state transformers allow us to control power dynamically rather than simply move it from one voltage to another,” said Haroon Inam, CEO of DG Matrix. “Combining that capability with TerraFlow’s LDUPS technology creates an architecture that can respond to the compute load in real time while controlling how that load is presented to the grid.”
Source: TerraFlow Energy and DG Matrix
