Enabling more growth for data centers
Data centers are the backbone of the ever developing digital world. They have been facing the challenge of growing electricity demand, high availability requirements together with intermittent renewable power causing lower stability of the grids and of course the ambitious carbon emission reduction targets. The solution to power availability and quality lies within the reach: flexible power generation and storage technologies with carbon emissions cut to zero.Utilizing waste heat from data centers is one of our opportunities to refrain from gas or oil – whether heating a greenhouse or a complete district. When operated with green hydrogen or other clean fuels instead of fossil fuels, the power-related CO2 emissions can be reduced to zero. In that case, data centers would supply carbon-neutral heat.
Ultimately, the integration of intermittent renewable energy threatens the regular operation of data centers until balancing equipment and storage capacities are available in the public grid to absorb fluctuations and resolve the availability gap.
Data center operators even have to take measures to protect their facilities from problems with the power grid, from premature aging of components in their power distribution system to the construction of appropriate energy storage facilities. At the same time, they need to decarbonize their own environmental footprint.
Compared with the public grid, on-site power generation can make a significant contribution to reducing a data center’s carbon footprint while stabilizing the power supply. If biogas or green hydrogen is used instead of fossil fuels, the power-related CO2 emissions can even be reduced to zero.
How to decarbonize data centers?
How can data centers ensure power availability and quality while contributing to ambitious carbon emission reduction and other environmental targets? What options are available for data centers to be an integral part of their operating environment and contribute to a reliable and sustainable energy system?
The power quality in the grid deteriorates with a growing renewable infeed. At the same time, the conditions for data center operators to reliably operate their core business are becoming increasingly difficult. Growing demands on availability are causing many operators to look for new ways to supply sufficient and reliable power. With the SGT-A05, we offer you an aero-derivative gas turbine that ramps up to full load in a mere 60 seconds while offering optimal fuel flexibility and hot restart capability.
The SGT-A05 isn’t just the perfect turbine for baseload operation: Its more than 129 million operating hours speak for themselves, just like its 99.5 percent base load availability. Add to this a 100 percent demonstrated start reliability and you have a perfect base load machine and a turbine for peak power that can replace diesel gensets for an emergency power supply. In the latter case, the appropriate battery will provide sufficient power to bridge the first minute, until base load is reached.
A strong partner
When you’re considering installing and running an on-site power generation solution, you need a partner who knows their way around the energy business. A partner with Siemens Energy reliability and expertise acquired over more than a century in all areas of power generation and transmission.
Sustainability Report 2022
We are proud about the progress we have made across all areas of the sustainability program. Learn more on our targets and performance.
