A study carried out by Aggreko among 700 data center professionals in seven European countriesboth from the continent and from the islands, has revealed that are increasingly concerned about the supply of energy that comes to these centers. The rise in concern stems from a number of reasons, one of the main ones being the energy crisis on the continent caused in part by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The analysis has discovered that 30% of those surveyed believe that their energy infrastructure and the local electricity grid are not capable of covering their current and future demand within the next five years. This despite the fact that the electrical grid plays a crucial role in the decision-making process for the construction and installation of new data centers.
Thus, Norway, a country with ambitious environmental goals and which is a leader in many energy-related sectors, such as the adoption of electric vehicles, points to ambient weather conditions as keys to the location of data centers.
This is because the points that allow you to obtain renewable energy with ease are more likely to host installations of this type. For example, a coastal area or on top of a hill. In both places it could take advantage of wind power and fresher air. Both to get electricity to operate and to cool your servers at no additional cost.
But the uncertainty about power supply goes much further, as projected global temperature rises may result in lower thermal efficiency in data centers. This, together with the aging of the infrastructure at an international level, has begun to sound several alarm bells in the sector.
At Aggreko they believe that it is necessary to focus on energy efficiency for the future. At the same time, they see fit to pay close attention to various tests that have been carried out to reduce heat and recycle it. Among them is the passage of waste heat to heating systems or swimming pools. Other approaches believe that more attention needs to be paid to data storage, to eliminate unnecessary data that is placing unnecessary strain on data centers, and therefore on the electrical grid.
In general, a probable solution to these problems lies in applying a combination of all the solutions mentioned, as well as looking for new ones, in order to meet objectives and reduce energy consumption.
One of these solutions, according to Guido Meijmeijer, Aggreko Data Center Manager in Europe, is to focus on hybrid generation and batteries for storage. In his opinion, this will allow data centers to strike a balance between energy, sustainability and efficiency.
