How to cut data center energy needs for profit

Today, industry insiders know that the UK energy market is going through a period of transformation as people’s needs need to be balanced to ensure a reliable energy supply, reduce carbon emissions and safeguard its economics.

According to media reports, in the next few decades, people will move away from centralized power generation methods and will adopt more diversified hybrid power generation methods, such as using renewable energy, nuclear fuels and traditional fuels to generate electricity. This all creates a challenge that makes it increasingly difficult for energy suppliers and grids to balance their capabilities.

benefit from change

Today, about half of electricity bills are non-commodity costs. These include costs such as power networks, transmission charges and other taxes, and these energy expenses have caused huge cost pressures on enterprises.

What is sometimes unclear is whether this changing situation is a business opportunity. There is a need to address the power-related issues faced by data center owners, such as improving data center resiliency and improving their grid connectivity, which may now actually lead to additional revenue.

So, in addition to guidance on energy contracts, energy efficiency measures and regulatory changes such as carbon reduction commitments off 2019, data center managers have a responsibility to start looking at their energy strategies as an opportunity to turn costs into revenue.

Costs removed from energy bills

One of the simplest ways for data center managers to remove costs from their bills is to use less mains electricity and bring more renewable energy technologies that are more suitable for the data.

Many suppliers are also talking about being prepared to reduce non-essential energy demand and being able to participate in 'dispatch' and pay for the reduction in power they require. This can also save on their energy tax rates.

通过参与需求响应计划，可以降低用户在高峰时段的使用需求。其节省的电能可能导致显著的财务效益，需求响应计划供应商将会带来更多的好处。

Use backup generation assets to generate revenue

When it comes to the energy needs of large data centers, enterprises are most interested in the resilience of their data centers. This is especially important for businesses that use uninterruptible power supplies.

These businesses invest in their backup power sources to protect themselves against grid failures. Traditionally these generators use diesel as the main fuel.

While easy to deploy, using these backup power assets can impact a business's carbon footprint and cost considerable money due to their lack of efficiency. Also, consider that these devices require ongoing maintenance, as they may not be used frequently and require constant updates and maintenance throughout their working life.

What some companies may not realize is that they can use these assets to enter the market more proactively: new business models are emerging that enable generators to become highly flexible power plants that can be embedded into local power grids and power plant generation systems.

This means they can support a secure supply of electricity during periods of high demand. Electricity network operators recognizing the benefits of this could incentivize diesel generators to be able to provide this extra power when it is needed most.

Improving on-site resilience through energy storage

Energy storage can provide data centers with the opportunity to save energy and reduce costs by being able to go off the grid during times of lower prices or demand, such as on weekends and at night, and use the stored power at a later time.

Using batteries to store energy, the economics of using large-capacity battery packs currently look more economical. Combining battery packs with renewable energy assets such as solar and wind can also reduce payback periods and increase investment efficiency.

Increasing data center capacity drives growth

It is difficult for data centers to increase the capacity and scale of their connections to the grid in order to better grow their businesses. If they are allowed to increase capacity, it could be extremely expensive. Improving energy efficiency can be a way to increase data center power capacity, but there is always a limit.

By installing combined heat and power generators, they can provide double the power capacity of the data center, which otherwise would have been difficult to expand. This means that they can expand their business based on the original data center facilities. The successful business case is very attractive to businesses as they can benefit from lower energy bills and increase their service capabilities.

Of course, combined heat and power is not suitable for every business, whose electricity output must be converted into a corresponding cooling capacity. So, at this point, it's worth considering how data centers get their most efficient technology. This requires distributed energy resources to play a role.

Putting it all together: a distributed energy model

It's clear that new perspectives on energy use and generation present real business opportunities for data center energy managers. But such a machine would create an unnecessarily complex environment that may be difficult to optimize.

This problem has led to the rise of distributed energy business models. Centrica, the parent company of British Gas, is investing £700 million to create a global business in distributed energy, providing opportunities for businesses to capitalize on this new market in a simple and integrated way.

This is a smaller independent power generation data center using battery storage, and its energy saving and intelligent building management system are usually managed by a single energy management and control center.

Unlike the traditional model, where customers only need to receive electricity from suppliers, distributed energy resources provide consumers with a wider range of choices and greater control.

They will generate their power anytime, anywhere, can control and meet their own energy needs, and can feed it to the grid, generating revenue.

For example, peak winter tariffs can be avoided, allowing its electricity assets to feed the grid and meet its Carbon Reduction Commitments (CRC), with economic benefits reaching tens of thousands of pounds per megawatt per year.

Of course, in terms of taking advantage of the Climate Change Tax Credit (CCL), many data centers are exempt from the Climate Change Agreement (CCA). This is a voluntary agreement between UK industry and environmental agencies to reduce energy use and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.

PUE, or Power Effectiveness Rating, could help drive this technology forward. Data centers will need to get closer to 1 as the CRC becomes obsolete in 2019. This may encourage more businesses to seek CCA and encourage them to be more efficient with their power usage. . Adopting a distributed energy model can help companies meet the terms of their CCA and avoid the risk of repaying the CCL concessions they received.

There is no one business case that fits every data business, so distributed energy models allow companies to create customized energy infrastructure to meet their needs.

With these new opportunities, innovative data center energy managers can begin to change their perspective on the grid.