THE EDGE
tThe energy sector in transition
Data centre operators who may feel over scrutinised and who are under sustainability pressures regarding the greenness of their operations could do worse than to consider what their peers in the energy sector are experiencing .
Many of them will have chosen a career in energy as a stable , mature and relatively unchanging industry . Today , they are tasked with nothing less than achieving the global decarbonisation of power systems in less than a decade .
This means achieving operational zero carbon by 2030 through the phasingout of fossil fuels and transitioning to renewables , while keeping the lights on . All the time assuaging the fears and concerns of governments , regulators , activists and the market about the speed and reliability of transition .
In the energy sector , legacy versus new means complexities .
As Thomas Egebo , CEO , Energinet – Denmark ’ s power transmission system operator – told an Accenture-hosted session at COP26 , there are three key topics to address :
1 . How to operate a fully invertorbased system without balance and inertia from traditional generators
2 . The development of tools , data and metrics to analyse and plan a 100 % green system in order to end uncertainty
3 . Develop the control of the future – to harvest decentralised capacity
As the grid decarbonises , the capacity and stability challenges will increase . Due to the asynchronous nature of renewable energy sources such as wind and solar , it is forecast that the closer the power system gets to being carbon zero , the greater the likelihood of an imbalance between supply and demand .
In order to correct this imbalance , it is likely that the power utilities will turn to the data centre sector to find additional decentralised , low carbon capacity due to the vast quantities of their underutilised energy storage and generation capacity .
How will a transitioning energy sector affect the data centre sector ?
The implications for data centres are profound and raise many questions .
For instance , how can data centres engage with utilities as they transition to net zero ? What technologies are available for them to become part of a sustainable partnership ecosystem with grid operators ? How much untapped power capacity do they already have ? How can they provide and prove their contributions are verifiably low carbon and sustainable ?
It is clear that both older and newer data centres have untapped capacity which could be made available to help with the greening of the grid . But just like the utility grid , data centre systems comprise a mix of old and new technologies . This raises a further question about how suitable current infrastructure is for providing clean energy .
Ed Ansett , Founder of i3 Solutions Group
Natural gas engines , for example , might be seen as a low carbon footprint solution to deliver dispatchable power back to the grid . Certainly , lower than some other fossil fuels . How ‘ low carbon ’ is actually defined and measured has yet to be agreed , but it could be that utilities will reward those able to provide low carbon capacity . Such an incentive may spur data centre
ACHIEVING INTEGRATION BETWEEN THE GRID AND DATA CENTRES IN THIS WAY WILL REQUIRE A SERIES OF INCREMENTAL STEPS , MANY OF WHICH ARE , AS YET , UNCLEAR AND UNDEFINED . www . intelligentdatacentres . com
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