• • • DATA CENTRES & UPS• • •
electric grid is an innovative way of contributing to the grid through the balance of energy supply and demand, the integration of renewable energy resources into the power equation, the reduction or deferral of grid infrastructure investment and the creation of new revenue streams for stakeholders.’
Smart grid-ready UPS A survey by research group Omdia reported that smart grid-ready UPS deployment was likely to be prevalent in data centres over the next few years as operators look to develop demand-side response energy management strategies, stabilising the grid energy supply as natural energy generation increases across the world. As well as turbo-charging renewable energy initiatives, grid-balancing services for UPS systems make financial sense as these units often stand without using their batteries for very long periods of time. 80 per cent of Omdia’s survey respondents estimated that 10-50 per cent of the capacity of batteries in data centres have excess power storage and can potentially be used to support the electricity grid. There are significant cost benefits to be had too, according to calculations by Vertiv, a one megawatt data centre can generate up to £85,000 (approximately) in revenue every year, or millions of GBP for a company with multiple megawatt data centres.
UPS systems have evolved to attain high efficiency with smaller footprints, as well as improved battery energy storage using lithium-ion technology and remote monitoring systems. The incorporation of technology to interact with
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the electric grid means data centre operators can be smarter about the amount and timing of energy consumption. Taking this a step further, under the tariff-based schemes available in some regions, some data centre operators are running grid-balancing projects using UPS technologies to lower electricity consumption during peak demand and earn money.
Live example Recognising this opportunity, Vertiv, Conapto and Fever got together to give data centres the opportunity to play an active role in stabilising the grid whilst unlocking new revenue streams. Conapto is a data centre provider offering colocation, connectivity and cloud services in Stockholm, Sweden. The company wanted to maximise the potential of the entire capacity of its UPS, demonstrating that data centres are not only consumers of energy but can also actively contribute to power generation, grid balancing and the circular economy. Conapto uses Vertiv Liebert EXL S1 UPS, an advanced solution for critical power protection and grid balancing, including Dynamic Grid Support. The Dynamic Grid Support feature provides static and dynamic frequency regulation by controlling the input power and the batteries’ charge or discharge, based on frequency activation thresholds. It supports demand management as an alternative approach to matching electricity supply and demand by reducing demand in times of scarcity or high energy costs. This innovative solution, supported with lithium-ion battery
technology, provides high capacity in a compact footprint, allowing Conapto to maximise the number of racks and servers and achieve operating efficiency up to 99 per cent. As part of the solution, Vertiv integrated a grid controller provided by Fever, which can detect grid frequency variations and inform the UPS by sending commands to adjust input power. Additionally, in the event of an outage, or when the operating conditions are out of specification, the primary UPS function protects the critical load so the runtime always has the highest priority, leading the control system to exit / pause the Dynamic Grid Support mode. Using this feature, organisations can protect their critical applications with stable power and grid operators can stabilise variations in system frequency.
By implementing Dynamic Grid Support, Conapto has enhanced operational efficiency and contributed to grid stability and sustainability when paired with energy alternatives. The solution has resulted in enhanced performance for maximum energy saving and CO2 emission reduction, maximum system flexibility for all installations, and reduced Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). It is also helping Conapto to potentially monetise backup capacity that would otherwise be left idle. As the intermittency of renewables continues to pose a challenge to grid operators, smart assets like UPS with grid support functionalities and backup power systems offer part of the solution to stabilising the electricity grid. In this scenario, data centres have the potential to become valuable energy hubs for all industries and across geographies.
ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING • SEPTEMBER 2024 49
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