• • • DATA CENTRES • • •
Power resilience, regulatory imperatives and sustainability: how battery storage can help de-risk data centre energy management
With the exponential growth in data centres, scrutiny over sustainability is intense, while the demand for secure power remains critical. Alexandra Kuncewicz, Business Development Manager from Powerstar explains how battery storage can help organisations meet these agendas.
By Alexandra Kuncewicz, Business Development Manager from Powerstar I
n the Foreword to their recent report, ‘Powering the Cloud’, Energy UK noted compelling statistics on the scale of the sector:
“There are 523 existing data centres, the third highest of any nation, globally, with at least nine more being developed across Great Britain.” They go on to observe: “Data centres currently use 1-2 per cent of electricity in GB. The rapid adoption of AI, machine learning, and the Internet of things means data centres are forecast to account for 10 per cent of GB electricity demand by 2050.”
Environmental accountability In tandem with this expansion comes regulatory and stakeholder demand for environmental accountability and transparency in monitoring energy usage and management. The Financial Conduct Authority requires asset managers to report on climate-related risks, and this extends to many of the larger-scale data centres. Similarly, the Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR) framework requires large and quoted
companies to report energy usage, carbon emissions and energy efficiency activities. The sector has responded with a number of initiatives, including self-regulation via the Climate Neutral Data Centre Pact (CNDCP), and over 90 per cent of the European data centre capacity is signed up to the ambition for carbon neutrality by 2030. In addition to strategies focused on water usage
and circular economy principles, the CNDCP requires data centres to implement high energy efficiency standards. The ambition for clean energy, looking to carbon neutral operations powered entirely by renewables, requires that electricity demand should be 75 per cent carbon- free by December this year, reaching 100 per cent by the end of 2030. While set at a European level, given the international nature of the sector, UK data centres largely align to these self-imposed regulations. But they raise clear and pressing issues in a race to decarbonise where the UK grid supply is already overburdened.
44 ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING • SEPTEMBER 2025 Grid constraints – and
resilient power As data centres look to increase the ratio of renewables to fossil fuels, there has been a massive surge in applications to the grid to facilitate clean energy projects. The National System energy Operator (NESO) confirmed that, at the beginning of this year, there were 1,700 connection applications covering 2023-2024, which equates to, “more projects already in the queue than are required for the energy system in 2030 or even 2050.” Drives for more sustainable energy can be
hampered in other, unforeseeable, ways. For example, most data centres will manage power disruption through an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) and back-up diesel generator. Where data centre operators are looking to transition to Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) as a more carbon-efficient alternative to diesel, this is proving problematic. The Government’s Renewable
electricalengineeringmagazine.co.uk
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