Limits of copper for gigawatt campuses

As AI data center campuses scale toward gigawatt capacity, the industry is confronting a new kind of bottleneck. Not just how to generate power, but how to move it efficiently across increasingly complex environments.

In this episode of the Data Center Frontier Show Podcast, MetOx CEO Bud Vos outlines why traditional copper-based power distribution may be approaching its limits, and how high-temperature superconducting (HTS) wire could offer a fundamentally different path forward.

“When you start looking at gigawatt-type campuses, you find three fundamental constraints—the grid interconnect, campus distribution, and delivery inside the data hall,” Vos explains. At each layer, scaling with copper drives exponential increases in materials, infrastructure, and complexity.

HTS technology changes that equation. By delivering roughly 10x the power density of copper, superconducting cables can dramatically reduce the physical footprint of power infrastructure, replacing dozens of conventional cables with just a few, while also cutting material use and simplifying system design.

The technology also reverses a key trend in data center power architecture. Instead of pushing voltage higher to compensate for copper limitations, superconductors enable higher current at lower voltage, potentially simplifying electrical systems across the facility.

Just as importantly, superconductors are effectively lossless. “They don’t generate heat as part of the power delivery infrastructure,” Vos notes, a property that could reshape how operators think about thermal management in high-density AI environments. While HTS systems require cooling with liquid nitrogen, that requirement may align with the industry’s broader shift toward liquid cooling.

Beyond engineering, HTS could also play a role in easing permitting and community opposition by reducing the physical footprint of power infrastructure. Narrower rights-of-way and fewer materials translate into less visible impact—an increasingly important factor as data center development faces growing scrutiny.

Crucially, superconducting systems are not theoretical. They have already been deployed in utility environments, providing a track record of reliability that may help accelerate adoption in the data center sector.

As onsite and behind-the-meter generation become more common, HTS is particularly well-suited to moving large amounts of power across multi-building campuses and into high-density data halls. At the same time, the technology offers a potential alternative to strained supply chains for copper and traditional electrical equipment.

Looking further ahead, superconductivity’s role may extend even deeper, with HTS materials also serving as a foundation for emerging fusion energy systems, hinting at a future where power generation and data center infrastructure are more tightly linked.

For now, Vos sees the industry at the beginning of an adoption cycle. “We’re deploying, testing, and then innovating on top of that,” he says.

As AI infrastructure enters its execution phase, superconductivity may move from a niche technology to a core component of how the next generation of data centers is powered.