Speed to Power vs Net Zero: The Data Center Dilemma - Clarke Energy

Mar 10, 2026

Alex Marshall, VP of Business Development at Clarke Energy with decades in biogas and flexible grid solutions. He discusses why gas engines are the rapid-response choice for hyperscale data centers. He describes a 450 MW peaking plant, how gas complements batteries, and the tensions between fast deployment and net zero ambitions.

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ADVICE

Map Solutions To The Customer's Energy Trilemma

Design microgrids to match customer priorities across the energy trilemma: cost, carbon, and resilience.
Clarke Energy maps electrical and thermal demand, then integrates engines, batteries, solar, or hydrogen as required.

ANECDOTE

450 MW Peaking Station Outside London

Clarke Energy is finalizing a 450 MW peaking station near London using banks of gas engines for grid peak response.
The plant sits idle until wind drops and the grid signals high price, then units start to supply firm power.

ADVICE

Choose CHP Only When Baseload Justifies Extra Capex

For short-term bridging (3–5 years) prioritize speed to power over CHP; for long-term baseload choose CHP to capture heat value.
Marshall says CHP has higher capex but pays off when generation is baseload over asset life.

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The AI boom has created an energy problem no one quite planned for. Every new data center needs power now - not in three years when the grid connection finally arrives. Developers are skipping the queue, installing on-site generation at a scale that would have seemed extraordinary five years ago.

But speed to power isn't the only pressure. Data center operators are also staring down net zero commitments, sustainability departments that want decarbonisation, and an energy trilemma of cost, carbon, and resilience.

In this episode Alejandro is joined by Alex Marshall, Group Business Development and Marketing Director at Clarke Energy. Alex explains why gas engines have become the bridging technology of choice for hyperscale data centers, what a 450 MW peaking station outside London actually looks like, and whether the engineering department and the sustainability team will ever agree.

You can watch or listen to new episodes every Tuesday and Thursday.

Transmission is a Modo Energy production. Your host is Alejandro De Diego - US Market Analyst

Modo Energy helps the owners, operators, builders, and financiers of battery energy storage understand the market — and make the most out of their assets. Want all the latest power market news? Sign up for our free Weekly Dispatch newsletter: https://bit.ly/TheWeeklyDispatch

Chapters

- 0:00 — Introduction

- 1:44 — Guest intro: Alex Marshall & Clarke Energy

- 3:30 — Data centers and the shift to self-generation

- 5:00 — The inflection point: Ireland to the US

- 7:00 — Biggest project: 450 MW peaking station, London

- 7:45 — Gas engines vs batteries: what fills the dunkelflaute gap

- 9:00 — What US data centers actually buy

- 10:20 — The net zero pathway for gas engines

- 14:00 — Speed to power vs cost savings

- 17:00 — Europe vs US: sustainability and energy culture

- 18:00 — 45Y production tax credit: what's at stake

- 22:10 — Clarke Energy's business model

- 22:40 — Project highlights: Ireland, Indiana, Nigeria, Romania

- 25:00 — The contrarian view: biogas & organic waste