Vertiv has opened a customer experience centre at its Delaware, Ohio Facility that features a microgrid power solution to help data centres address electrical grid capacity challenges.
Vertiv partnered with American Electric Power (AEP) on the microgrid solution, which according to Vertiv, will be used as proof of concept to test operational functions and data centre infrastructure technologies.
The 1.0 MW microgrid features a 1.0 MW AC solar PV (photovoltaic) array, a 400 kW hydrogen fuel cell, 1.0 MW Vertiv DynaFlex battery energy storage system, and Vertiv’s uninterruptible power supply system.
As trends such as AI increasingly require more power than is available from traditional electric grids, microgrids for data centres have become increasingly popular. Microgrids can be used to reduce reliance on the grid for power capacity and availability, and to reduce diesel generator backup starts.
“Our customers are evaluating the role of microgrids and battery energy storage systems (BESS) for their mission critical power systems. Standing up a microgrid that serves as both a customer experience centre and a test lab for performance will enable Vertiv to help our customers make critical decisions on whether a microgrid and BESS are right for their data centre and how to deploy their own microgrid sites,” said Kyle Keeper, Senior Vice President, Global AC Power Product Development and Engineering at Vertiv.
“This is an important step in helping our customers operate more efficiently and effectively with the electrical grid.”
