An AI training run can cause power swings over 200MW in 40ms, like a quarter-million people joining the grid. WDPC standardises communication between workloads and infrastructure, preventing these swings from destabilising power systems and wasting renewable energy.
Developed with industry leaders in data centre infrastructure
The Workload Dynamic Power and Cooling (WDPC) framework represents a fundamental shift in how computational workloads and energy infrastructure communicate.
By establishing standardised temporal data formats and interfaces, WDPC creates a common language that enables compute workloads, data centres, and power grids to communicate effectively.
This common language allows them to coordinate in real-time without relying on prescriptive control systems. Think of WDPC as the universal translator for the energy ecosystem.
It enables every component — from individual processors to municipal power grids — to share their needs, capabilities, and constraints in a format everyone understands, supporting a stable and responsive grid.
This approach transforms isolated "energy islands" into an intelligent, connected network capable of handling demanding computational tasks while optimising renewable energy use and overall grid stability.
The rapid growth of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) is creating unprecedented challenges for our energy infrastructure and unique opportunities for innovation.
The computational demands of modern architecture are becoming increasingly volatile. A single large language model training session can cause power fluctuations that would have been unimaginable just years ago. WDPC addresses this critical challenge by providing the data foundation that enables facilities to participate in energy markets, demand response programmes, and renewable energy optimisation. Going beyond managing today's workloads, it helps build the infrastructure for a future where computation and sustainability are inseparable.
Grid Stability enables load forecasting and demand response that prevents costly disruptions
Carbon Optimisation schedules workloads to run when renewable energy is abundant
Cost Reduction participates in energy markets and dynamic pricing programmes
Heat Recovery coordinates waste heat delivery to municipal heating systems
Infrastructure Efficiency improves utilisation through predictive workload signalling
WDPC converts environmental responsibility from aspiration into an achievable reality. By making carbon intensity visible and actionable at millisecond scales, organisations can automatically shift computational workloads to times when clean energy is abundant. The framework enables data centres to become active participants in the renewable energy transition, coordinating with grid operators to maximise the use of solar and wind power while maintaining the performance that modern applications demand.
Modern AI workloads can create massive, rapid power surges comparable to hundreds of thousands of households switching on ACs simultaneously, risking grid destabilisation and increased carbon emissions. WDPC prevents this by enabling predictive coordination: workloads share their plans, grids adjust in advance, and the system adapts in real time, ensuring stability, efficient renewable use, and sustainable performance.
Connecting traditionally disparate components in the datacentre via a data bus to develop novel approaches to power management.
Schedule compute-heavy tasks when renewable energy is abundant, with workloads signalling power needs in advance.
Help grid operators forecast demand and participate in energy management programmes through standardised interfaces.
Redirect data centre heat to district heating networks, turning excess thermal energy into a community resource.
Schedule workloads based on grid carbon intensity, optimising tasks to use cleaner energy.
WDPC gives you the data foundation to build truly carbon-aware applications. Through standardised APIs, your services can receive real-time signals about grid carbon intensity, infrastructure capacity, and renewable energy availability.
While you design the logic, WDPC ensures you have consistent, reliable data to make intelligent scheduling decisions.
WDPC opens doors to energy market participation and demand response programmes that were previously inaccessible. With standardised data exchange, your facilities gain the visibility needed to optimise energy costs and demonstrate sustainability progress with real metrics.
As AI workloads grow, WDPC provides the coordination framework to scale intelligently.
WDPC brings clarity to sustainability measurement by standardising how energy and carbon data flows through your infrastructure. You'll have consistent temporal data to track actual carbon intensity, measure waste heat recovery, and correlate workload decisions with emissions.
For your reporting system, WDPC ensures the underlying data is reliable, comparable, and auditable.
Project Leadership
My Truong | CTO, ZutaCore | WDPC Project Lead
Actively recruiting contributorsWe're building this standard with input from data centre operators, infrastructure providers, and sustainability experts worldwide. Your expertise can help shape how the industry coordinates energy for decades to come.
Current focus: The specification is actively developing, and experts, operators, and sustainability practitioners are invited to refine and validate it.
Proposal
Pre-Draft
Draft
Consistency Review
WG Final Approval
SC Ratification
Publication
Work on the WDPC codebase — open issues, submit PRs, and collaborate on implementation.
View Repository →
Review the WDPC spec draft and data models; propose changes and provide technical feedback.
Read Specification →
See how WDPC's central data bus architecture enables real-time coordination.
View Architecture →
Join the working group overseeing WDPC and other hardware sustainability standards.
Join Working Group →WDPC is a path toward intelligent energy coordination. We need diverse perspectives to ensure this standard serves the entire ecosystem.
Whether you're managing data centres, developing AI applications, or driving sustainability initiatives, your experience and insights can help create a standard that transforms how the world thinks about computational energy. Together, we can build an infrastructure where performance and sustainability become equal partners.
