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INTERVIEW
Energy efficiency
By Janne Paananen , Technology Manager at Eaton EMEA
www . eaton . com
Eaton ’ s Technology Manager Janne Paananen shares his view of what lies ahead for the data centre industry
With a 103-year heritage of engineering power management technologies for a wide range of energy-intensive industries , Eaton has a long history of developing energy-efficient solutions that help customers to effectively manage electrical , hydraulic and mechanical power more efficiently , safely and sustainably .
What have been the most significant changes to
1 the industry over the past five years ? The industry has seen significant changes due to the surge in energy consumption across the globe . As a result , we ’ ve seen an uptick in awareness around the topic of data centre efficiencies . And although the Code of Conduct for Data Centre Energy Efficiency is the only major policy that officially measures efficiency within EU data centres , we ’ ve seen vast improvements over the past few years . As a result , infrastructure efficiency has reached Power Usage Effectiveness ( PUE ) levels that are hard to improve at this point unless innovative technology is put in place to approach power in a different way .
What are the main challenges for your sector ?
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We need to focus on two major industry challenges : finding a way to use energy that comes from renewable sources and maximising existing data centre investments to derive more use and benefit from them . A primary example of implementing technology to overcome these issues is employing UPS-as-a-Reserve ( UPSaaR ) to help to balance demand and supply and contain grid frequency . With UPSaaR , data centres can immediately respond to sudden grid imbalances to keep frequencies within allowed boundaries , helping grid operators avoid wide-scale power outages . In this way , data centres are both supporting the grid to use renewables for power generation and maximising their return on investments by receiving compensation for offering balancing capacity to the grid .
Where do you see the data centre industry heading
3 in the future ? There ’ s no doubt that the data centre industry is going to evolve quickly over the coming years . In the future , there will be a heavier focus on the smarter use of assets and on establishing a broader view of how infrastructure is used .
Recycling waste heat and participating actively in energy markets are good examples of this . We ’ re quite confident that we ’ ll see a time when data centres act as Frequency Containment Reserves through the use of their UPS . This approach is destined to become a much-needed solution to the issue of ‘ greening ’ the data centre and will assist with the broader challenge of using renewables effectively in power generation – without compromising on power reliability . Rather than being a problem for the grid , the future data centre can be part of a solution .
What will be the market drivers for the future ?
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Like always , economics drive the market . But it doesn ’ t necessarily mean that it will conflict with new technologies or the push to become greener . The European Union is driving for energy efficiency and a higher use of renewable energy sources to reduce carbon emissions . They ’ re also encouraging transmission system operators and energy markets to develop more flexibility for demand response type activities . These initiatives will create new opportunities for the data centre industry and will push the new designs in a certain direction .
There are also international standardisation activities by ISO / IEC JTC 1 / SC39 technical committee , for example , to create and define KPI ’ s and best practices to improve the sustainability of the information technology and data centre industry .
Should data centre companies specialise or
5 diversify ? Naturally , the big trends such as 5G and all the flavours of edge computing will influence this greatly – and I believe there ’ s room for both . This is driven by the market demand and the fact that many data centre companies have different types of business model – comparing , for example , a hyperscale to regional colocation or enterprise data centre .
What does the data centre of tomorrow look like ?
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The data centre of the future will be more efficient and greener than what may have been previously anticipated . For the first time , data centre managers will be in control of their energy . More companies will be considering data centre solutions that facilitate earnings from the initial UPS investment and other infrastructure . If the use of UPS ’ s for grid support is managed correctly , the typical returns can be as much as tens of thousands of Euros per MW power allocated to the grid frequency regulation per year .
How is Eaton keeping abreast of current and future
7 industry developments ? Eaton has demonstrated that UPS systems and batteries can be efficiently deployed to carry out demand-side response operations with minimal risk to the UPS ’ s primary purpose . We continue to push boundaries and are committed to both asking the right questions and investing in the best research to pinpoint how we can develop and support technologies that help achieve the common goal of a greener and brighter future . n
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