Brian Wang There are about 10+ Gigawatts per year of of AI data centers being built over the next 10+ years. Megapacks are proven in improving the energy quality that AI needs. This will be potentially $500 million per gigawatt of data center. This will be $5+ billion per year of potential Megapack sales. This can become 50% Tesla energy business in 2026 and then should grow as AI data centers scale to 20 gigawatts per year and beyond. Battery energy storage is also needed to unlock 100+ Gigawatts of power without waiting a decade for new giant power plants and energy grid to be built. Unlocking getting more power from existing power plants doubles the opportunity to $1 billion per Gigawatt of data center and a $100 billion over ten years and potential market of an additional 100,000+ megapacks. Power Load Smoothing for AI Training AI training centers can see up to 90% load swings at frequencies as high as 30 Hz, driven by GPUs working in a coordinated manner (“all turn on and off at the same time”) Low Voltage Ride Through Data center uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems are designed to trip rapidly when a fault is detected on the utility system, typically signaled by high or low voltage levels. This protects servers and keeps them energized, but it also creates a new risk: large, coordinated load loss to the utility system. As data centers continue to scale and cluster in specific regions, these sudden losses are becoming a significant system stability concern for utilities and grid operators. Regulations addressing this behavior are beginning to emerge, including newly proposed requirements from ERCOT, SPP, and several utilities. Flexible and Faster Interconnection Securing a utility interconnection at the scale required for AI data centers (100 MW to multiple GWs) can take more than 7 years, far slower than most operators expect. Some data centers are shaping their load to fit within the existing grid envelope in exchange for faster energization, a strategy supported by programs such as Dominion CapFlex and PG&E FlexConnect. Megapack can enable this shaping with no impact on data center operations. Other operators are opting to build their own on-site power plant to accelerate energization, often combining solar and natural gas with Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS). In both cases, Megapack serves as the storage backbone that makes faster, more flexible interconnection possible. Annual market potential (U.S. focus) 10 GW/year × $500 million/GW = $5 billion per year. Cumulative market over 10 years (aligning with ~100 GW total new capacity) 100 GW × $500 million/GW = $50 billion total. This assumes Tesla captures the full 1% share for the 2-hour system across all new builds. Globally, projections suggest even larger scale—data center power demand could nearly double to ~160-180 GW equivalent by 2030 (from ~100 GW in 2025) This could expand this to $80-90 billion over the decade if trends hold. Additional BESS Needed to Unlock 100 GW+ Using Solar and BESS Flexible interconnection is a key bottleneck, where grid queues can exceed 7 years for GW-scale sites. One path to accelerate (“unlock”) this is building on-site power plants combining solar, natural gas, and BESS (Megapack) to shape loads and fit within existing grid capacity, via programs like Dominion CapFlex or PG&E FlexConnect. For load shaping without impacting operations, the post specifies a 4-hour Megapack system (vs. the base 2-hour for other uses). This doubles the BESS duration and investment. Base case (2-hour BESS): $500 million/GW, or 200 GWh total for 100 GW (2 hours × 100 GW). Unlocking case (4-hour BESS) would be another double to ~$1 billion/GW or $100 billion total for 100 GW—thus $50 billion more than the base. Capacity: 400 GWh total (4 hours × 100 GW). Units: ~102,600 Megapacks (3.9 MWh each). This BESS acts as the “storage backbone,” enabling faster energization. Solar would supplement for renewables The base Megapack opportunity is $50 billion for 100 GW, but unlocking via solar + extended BESS doubles the BESS slice to $100 billion. The priority is building AI data centers faster. Brian Wang Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology. Known for identifying cutting edge technologies, he is currently a Co-Founder of a startup and fundraiser for high potential early-stage companies. He is the Head of Research for Allocations for deep technology investments and an Angel Investor at Space Angels. A frequent speaker at corporations, he has been a TEDx speaker, a Singularity University speaker and guest at numerous interviews for radio and podcasts. He is open to public speaking and advising engagements. Categories