Data Center & Power Project Siting That Lets You Move Faster & Reduce Costs
Speed to market and long-term costs can make or break data center and power projects. Ascend delivers optimal locations for siting new firm load that optimize value and minimize risk.
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50,000+
US Nodes Modeled for Pricing Dynamics and Project Revenue
20%
Of New Storage Systems Brought Online Managed by SmartBidder
300+ GW
Project Valuation Assessments Underpinned
Solutions that Simplify Siting Complexity
Finding the right site requires being able to quickly and accurately evaluate a series of complex and interconnected factors. Ascend integrates fully independent fundamental forecasts to produce a nodal view of energy prices, interconnection feasibility, power deliverability, and the value of flexible load.
Nodal Price Intelligence
- 30+ year forecasts at every US node
- Sub-hourly granularity
- Capture rates by resource type
Interconnection Analysis
- Substation headroom mapping
- Cost-ranked upgrade scenarios
- Flexible load feasibility modeling
Emissions & IRA Modeling
- Locational marginal emissions
- IRA energy community eligibility
- Identifies lowest emissions nodes
Investment Screening
- Custom metrics across scenarios
- Multi-factor site ranking
- Data center and power project views
Optimize Site Selection for Data Centers and Power Projects
Whether the goal is finding the right node for an energy project or a data center, Ascend helps identify superior locations for siting new firm load, accounting for interconnection requirements, energy costs, and emissions while accelerating speed to market.
Data Center Siting: Speed, Cost, and Reliability in One View
For data center developers and hyperscalers, Ascend's sophisticated siting analytics software and expertise can provide immense competitive advantages in terms of speed to market, risk reduction, and long-term cost minimization.
Substation Headroom Mapping
Identifies sites where load can interconnect with minimal upgrades, pinpointing the fastest paths to market while avoiding supply chain constraints
Substation Headroom Mapping
Identifies sites where load can interconnect with minimal upgrades, pinpointing the fastest paths to market while avoiding supply chain constraints
Interconnection Cost Ranking
Quantifies transmission upgrade costs across scenarios, giving developers a clear picture of infrastructure investment requirements before committing to a site
Interconnection Cost Ranking
Quantifies transmission upgrade costs across scenarios, giving developers a clear picture of infrastructure investment requirements before committing to a site
Flexible Load Evaluation
Models behind-the-meter and bring-your-own-capacity strategies to assess whether flexible interconnection enables sites that would otherwise require extensive grid work
Flexible Load Evaluation
Models behind-the-meter and bring-your-own-capacity strategies to assess whether flexible interconnection enables sites that would otherwise require extensive grid work
Locational Energy Cost Modeling
Estimates the 20-year NPV of cost to serve load at each candidate node, leveraging Ascend Market Intelligence forecasts
Locational Energy Cost Modeling
Estimates the 20-year NPV of cost to serve load at each candidate node, leveraging Ascend Market Intelligence forecasts
Power Deliverability Analysis
Integrates power flow modeling to assess how congestion and curtailment events affect reliable power access, including weather-correlated winter reliability risks
Power Deliverability Analysis
Integrates power flow modeling to assess how congestion and curtailment events affect reliable power access, including weather-correlated winter reliability risks
Emissions and Carbon Accounting
Quantifies incurred emissions by location and load shape, and models emission reduction potential from co-located storage or renewable resources
Emissions and Carbon Accounting
Quantifies incurred emissions by location and load shape, and models emission reduction potential from co-located storage or renewable resources
Top Site Identification
Combines interconnection, energy cost, emissions, time-to-market, and infrastructure criteria into ranked site lists across multiple data center size scenarios
Top Site Identification
Combines interconnection, energy cost, emissions, time-to-market, and infrastructure criteria into ranked site lists across multiple data center size scenarios
Nodal-Level Screening
Evaluates project value at every US node using 30+ year sub-hourly price forecasts, allowing developers to rapidly survey and screen potential sites
Nodal-Level Screening
Evaluates project value at every US node using 30+ year sub-hourly price forecasts, allowing developers to rapidly survey and screen potential sites
Renewable Capture Rate Analysis
Forecasts how capture rates vary by resource type and location, accounting for the impact of new supply on local prices and curtailment risk
Renewable Capture Rate Analysis
Forecasts how capture rates vary by resource type and location, accounting for the impact of new supply on local prices and curtailment risk
IRA Eligibility Mapping
Incorporates IRA energy communities to identify sites eligible for bonus tax credits
IRA Eligibility Mapping
Incorporates IRA energy communities to identify sites eligible for bonus tax credits
Geospatial Analysis
Applies proprietary map layers that analyze cost of land, renewable resource potential, interconnection queue status, nodal marginal emissions, and transmission constraints
Geospatial Analysis
Applies proprietary map layers that analyze cost of land, renewable resource potential, interconnection queue status, nodal marginal emissions, and transmission constraints
Optimal Sizing and Siting
Determines the most attractive locations by combining energy value and interconnection data across a range of scenarios and project sizes
Optimal Sizing and Siting
Determines the most attractive locations by combining energy value and interconnection data across a range of scenarios and project sizes
Basis and Congestion Risk
Captures nodal price differences and congestion dynamics to quantify basis risk at candidate sites before development capital is committed
Basis and Congestion Risk
Captures nodal price differences and congestion dynamics to quantify basis risk at candidate sites before development capital is committed
Top Site Identification
Combines interconnection, energy cost, emissions, time-to-market, and infrastructure criteria into ranked site lists across multiple data center size scenarios
Top Site Identification
Combines interconnection, energy cost, emissions, time-to-market, and infrastructure criteria into ranked site lists across multiple data center size scenarios
Power Project Siting: Screen, Select, and Advance
Choosing the right site can significantly impact whether a solar, wind, storage, hybrid, or thermal project pencils – as well as the level of risk-adjusted revenue if and when it does. Ascend’s PowerVAL's solution leverages nodal intelligence and geospatial data to identify, screen, and select optimal site locations across the US.
Integration
Data center and power project siting analytics integrates transmission network modeling, nodal price forecasts, and fundamental-based production cost dispatch simulation in a single workflow
Precision
Ascend models pricing dynamics at 50,000+ US nodes, giving siting analyses a far more granular level of geographic resolution relative to regional or zonal approaches
Speed
Substation-level headroom mapping and cost-ranked interconnection scenarios allow project stakeholders to quickly understand which sites are most likely to reach operation quickly, before engaging in costly study processes
Bankability
Siting recommendations leverage the same investment-grade forecasts that underpin 300+ GW and more than $50 billion in renewable and storage project financing assessments
Flexibility
Site screening adapts to custom investment criteria, including project size, resource type, and scenario assumptions, to deliver custom recommendations
Data Center & Power Project Siting: The Ascend Advantage
Learn MoreWho Ascend Analytics Helps
Siting decisions shape project economics across every stage of the energy and data infrastructure value chain.
Nodal screening, IRA eligibility mapping, renewable capture rate analysis, and interconnection analyses in US energy markets
Nodal screening, IRA eligibility mapping, renewable capture rate analysis, and interconnection analyses in US energy markets
Project siting strategy, multi-site screening, basis risk quantification, and nodal-level analysis for renewable and thermal projects
Project siting strategy, multi-site screening, basis risk quantification, and nodal-level analysis for renewable and thermal projects
Siting support for new generation and storage resources, including nodal price analysis, IRA eligibility determination, and interconnection cost analysis for RFP design and resource planning
Siting support for new generation and storage resources, including nodal price analysis, IRA eligibility determination, and interconnection cost analysis for RFP design and resource planning
Data center site evaluation combining transmission network modeling, long-term energy cost modeling, emissions accounting, and flexible load feasibility
Data center site evaluation combining transmission network modeling, long-term energy cost modeling, emissions accounting, and flexible load feasibility
Independent siting validation, locational energy cost modeling, and scenario-based site scoring
Independent siting validation, locational energy cost modeling, and scenario-based site scoring
Key Resources
A New Normal: The Coming Era of Sustained, High Capacity Pricing
This publication is the first in a series from Ascend Analytics that considers the implications of rapid load growth on US capacity markets, high capacity prices as the new normal, the risks that new realities create for business-as-usual strategies, and the opportunities that this paradigm shift enables for well-planned new entry resources.
