xAI has quietly built a massive battery at its Memphis data center hub
Canary Media
The article reports that SpaceXAI has built what may be the biggest battery in the US at its Colossus 2 AI computing hub near Memphis, based on satellite imagery from July showing 720 Tesla Megapack containers, equivalent to roughly 2.8 gigawatt-hours. Company and utility executives have described the installation in varying terms, with a SpaceXAI developer telling the Tennessee Valley Authority board it held 3.3 gigawatt-hours, enough to power all of Memphis for two hours, and the CEO of Memphis Light, Gas and Water calling it the world's largest grid-connected battery system with some 2,000 megawatts behind the meter. If accurate, it would surpass the current largest known US grid battery in Kern County, California. What makes the project unusual is that SpaceXAI proceeded without an announced utility contract or the typical years-long permitting and community outreach process, consistent with the company's pattern of brushing aside normal procedures, including its earlier use of unpermitted mobile gas generators that drew environmental lawsuits over air pollution in nearby predominantly Black neighborhoods. The piece explains how AI-driven demand growth is pushing data center developers toward large batteries to speed grid interconnection and manage peak demand, and how SpaceXAI's battery could eventually serve the broader TVA system... Click below to read more
