On the Optimal Co-location of Data Centers with Renewable Energy Sources in SIDS

The rapid expansion of data centers presents both economic opportunities and systemic risks for Caribbean Small Island Developing States~(SIDS). This paper develops a PyPSA-based capacity expansion framework for optimal co-location of data centers with renewable energy infrastructure, incorporating behind-the-meter battery storage, workload flexibility (70%/30% inflexible/flexible split), and multi-bus transmission topology. Two case studies are examined: Trinidad~&~Tobago (single-bus, 92,MW Brechin Castle solar, 5,MW data center) and Jamaica (4-bus 138,kV JPS network, 15,MW data center at Kingston). Jamaica’s optimum deploys 405,MW solar, 278,MW wind, 800,MWh grid-scale BESS, and 84,MWh behind-the-meter BESS, achieving 42.5% renewable penetration; Trinidad’s gas-anchored optimum builds no new RE, and a sensitivity analysis shows solar entering at gas costs above $65–70/MWh, a carbon price of $25–50/tCO${}_2$, or solar CAPEX of $800/kW. A post-hoc distributionally robust stress test evaluates hurricane resilience, and a novel 10-factor siting framework addresses the regulatory gap in SIDS that lack data-center-specific zoning. Results show that energy-optimal locations may score poorly on societal criteria—noise, freshwater stress, zoning readiness. This demonstrates the need for integrated planning tools in small island contexts.