Nvidia has announced plans to deploy Emerald AI’s power orchestration software at its under-construction 96MW Aurora data center in Manassas, Virginia.

First reported by Axios, Aurora will be the first facility built to a new industry-wide certification for flexible power, led by Nvidia with Emerald AI, the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), and the regional grid operator PJM.

The project, which is being built by Digital Realty, is slated for operations in the first half of 2026.

The facility will deploy Emerald AI’s flagship product, the Emerald Conductor program, which serves as a mediator between the grid and data centers, orchestrating AI workloads in real time.

This enables data centers to dynamically adjust their energy consumption, supporting grid stability while ensuring acceptable AI compute performance.

David Porter, EPRI vice president, described the solution as “like taking 18-wheelers off the road at rush hour.”

Early demonstration tests in Phoenix, conducted in conjunction with Oracle, Nvidia, EPRI, and the utility Salt River Project, showed a 25 percent reduction in power consumption over three hours while maintaining acceptable performance.

“Until now, most observers assumed AI data centers could only provide grid flexibility through on-site generation or storage,” said Tyler Norris, power analyst and Emerald AI advisor. “Aurora shows software-based workload shifting can be a credible and measurable grid resource.”

“We’ve got a real shot at unlocking fast power immediately without raising community prices, and we could even lower them,” said Emerald AI CEO Varun Sivaram.

According to the companies, the Aurora AI factory will serve as a hub for innovation, demonstrating how AI compute can operate in harmony with energy grids. This is intended to help unlock grid capacity for future AI expansion and improve energy reliability and affordability.

In addition, according to reports from The Information, Emerald AI raised $18 million in new funding to advance its software that connects AI data centers to the power grid. The deal was led by Lowercarbon Capital, with participation from Nvidia, Radical Ventures, and National Grid Partners. The funding is an extension of a $25m seed round that the startup closed earlier this year.

Emerald AI was launched earlier this year and has since signed several high-profile agreements. In September, the firm partnered with National Grid, the UK’s high-voltage electric power transmission network, to conduct a live demonstration in the UK showcasing Emerald AI’s Emerald Conductor program. The demonstration is scheduled for late 2025 and will utilize Nvidia GPUs to adjust energy consumption of data centers to support grid stability.

The company is a member of the Nvidia Inception program for startups and is also backed by Google’s chief sustainability officer, Kate Brandt.