Overcoming Power Constraints And Driving Energy Efficiencies In Data Centres
The need for data centres has accelerated rapidly in line with new demands, but providing power for them isn’t always easy. Soaring costs are now a huge obstacle, despite the UK Government recently announcing a new business support package, so how are data centres making changes to cut costs and become more energy efficient?
Data centres need electricity to run their infrastructure and keep their environment at optimally cooled temperatures. In 2010, data centres used 1% of the world's energy and sites are still using around this amount with minimal increase today. The expectations for data centres are increasing and with growing pressure on the power grid, it's getting harder to deliver efficiencies.
The high rise of data capacity is becoming a global issue due to a hunger for instant-data processing. The population is becoming more IT literate, which has led to households consuming huge amounts of data. Streaming services such as Netflix and Spotify require the support of a data centre, so the demand for additional facilities is unsurprising.
To keep up with market trends, there’s an increased demand for finding new sites for data centres and utilising space at existing facilities. They are important to the digitalisation of society and establishment of a smart energy system, yet have implications for energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions in the UK.
Driving Industry Change
Research shown to the National Grid reveals that the UK has the largest data centre capacity in Europe, with London being the continent’s data centre hub. This is largely due to the size of the city’s financial centre and the reach of its fibre capacity. But more recently, London has started to see data centre developments running into physical limitations.
EU countries such as Ireland and the Netherlands have now begun to review their energy consumption in response to an increase in power shortages and grid constraints. One example is the EirGrid group, which manages and operates the transmission grid of electricity across Ireland. It halted a proposal for 30 new data centres last year, after restrictions to build such facilities were put in place until 2028.
Amazon and Microsoft have reportedly scrapped their own plans to build data centres in Ireland due to the risk of overwhelming the national power grid. Google and Equinix have showcased their awareness by pledging to make their data centres carbon neutral via the Climate Neutral Data Centre Pact.
Operators and trade associations in the EU who have signed this pact have committed to make Europe carbon neutral by 2050. Actions include meeting a high standard of energy efficiency and water conservation, matching their electricity supply through the purchase of clean energy and implementing a circular economy.
The UK has also enhanced its Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS) with increased expectations on qualifying organisations. The mandatory legislative requirement is for all large organisations in the country and ensures major energy users are documenting and reporting on a clear list of opportunities available to reduce their energy usage. Administered by the Environment Agency, it requires businesses to carry out a comprehensive evaluation of energy usage across buildings, transport and industrial operations.
Norway’s government is working on plans to become ‘the world’s most sustainable data centre nation. The country’s data centre industry already contributes 2,000 jobs and this figure could grow to 11,000 by 2025. Between 2019 and 2020, more than 2.6 billion Norwegian Krone (£226 million) has been invested, resulting in 19 new data centres.
Efficient Data Centres
Data centre operators want a facility with a low Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE), but currently there is no one silver bullet.
Well-established technology developments such as adiabatic, evaporative and liquid cooling are some techniques used to reduce energy consumption. Switching from traditional methods to rack-level, direct to chip cooling also delivers significant advantages such as reduced energy, space and downtime, as well as increased processing capacity. It is believed liquid’s heat-carrying capacity can be up to 3,500 times greater than traditional air cooling methods.
While it’s regarded as almost impossible to achieve a 1.0 PUE rating, the average ratio for a data centre in 2020 was around 1.58. By adopting and implementing tactics like those mentioned above, it will ensure operators are doing their part in boosting their own sustainability credentials.
Final Thoughts
Data centres consume a staggering amount of energy to maintain their operations 24/7. In some cases, the world’s biggest facilities use more energy than an entire country. Operators are having to adapt their business decisions and think more critically about how sites can stay energy efficient and still comply with ongoing regulations. The fact Amazon and Microsoft are not planning to invest further in Ireland shows that even the world’s biggest companies are constantly analysing their decisions.
National Grid believes the future landscape for data centres in the UK will still be one of growth. With energy demand increasing significantly, this makes it difficult to predict what the rise will be. But initiatives such as ESOS and the Climate Neutral Data Centre Pact are an important step to agree and meet key objectives to help drive energy efficiencies in the decades to come. We will likely see energy price levels increase even further, so operators need to be prepared to make changes to their working environment if additional constraints come into force.
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