NetApp:


Cogeneration Case Study


Imagine being able to drop your data center off the grid on hot summer days when utility rates are the highest.


NetApp of Sunnyvale, California does just that by bringing its natural gas cogeneration system online. Doing this saves them about $300,000 a year.


Their generator has a specialized chiller that transforms wasted heat into chilled water. In addition to saving money on electricity, this chiller gives them a source of “free cooling,” which also reduces their costs.


You’d think their utility company, PG&E, would be up in arms about this competition. But utility companies are often more worried about their own supply during peak hours. PG&E offers rebates for Combined Heat and Power Cogeneration systems.


Cogeneration for Data Centers The production of electricity often creates some kind of waste product. What if you could take that waste product and turn it back into electricity? In other words, what if you could turn your junk into dollars?


Cogeneration does just that by transforming waste heat, usually from a natural gas generator, into useful thermal energy. (The technology is also known as Combined Heat and Power, or CHP.)


A cogeneration facility in a data center can save you money, help the environment (and your bottom line), help with survivability in case of a utility shutdown, and can use familiar technology.


· Savings - You can use a cogeneration system to take your center off the grid on hot summer days when electricity rates shoot up. NetApp, a one megawatt data center, uses their cogeneration system for this and saves about $300,000 a year. · Environmentally Friendly - The waste heat fuels an adsorption chiller that uses a silica-based gel to evaporate water, which serves as the refrigerant. No chemical refrigerant is used, so the process is environmentally friendly.


Also, a cogeneration system is more energy efficient than power generated by utility companies, so it reduces overall greenhouse gas emissions. This can help you to qualify for large customers (including governments) that require Green-e Certification[1]. It can also help you get government incentives.


· Survivability - A cogeneration system as an alternative source of power can improve the survivability of a data center during a catastrophic loss of utility power. · Familiar Technology - Some cogeneration systems use a gas-powered internal combustion engine similar to the backup diesel generators that may already be familiar to your staff.


Remember, the business of data centers is extremely competitive these days. You can use deregulation, an energy brokerage, aggregated billing, and cogeneration to save on energy and add to your data center profits.


P!


Writer’s Bio: Ping! Zine author and energy efficiency analyst Don Slepian offers free conventional and 100% green energy quotes for data centers. Don Slepian, 570-476-6307, DSlepian@NationalEnergyManagers.com


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