With data centres facing a difficult balancing act between sustainability and increasing energy demands, James Hampshire, Business Development Engineer at Powerstar, explains how Voltage Optimisation (VO) could offer a solution.
John Pettigrew, Chief Executive of the National Grid, has predicted a six-fold increase in UK data centre energy usage within the next decade, driven particularly by developments in AI and quantum computing. This projection is borne out by the much-reported statistic from Ireland, indicating that data centres already accounted for a fifth of all electricity consumption across the Republic in 2022.
There are two stand-out issues here: how can increasing energy demands fit, realistically, within a UK-wide 2050 net zero strategy; and how can businesses protect themselves against energy cost instability when inflation and geopolitics affect UK productivity?
The data centre dilemma
Data centres are hit particularly hard by both of these questions. Considering decarbonisation, there’s an understandable caution within the sector when looking to novel energy management technologies – both in terms of the investment case and the demonstrable efficacy of any new process or product.
But there is a clear imperative to act, as John Pettigrew highlighted in his March statement: “Decarbonisation is not just good for the planet, it’s good for the economy too, delivering green jobs, and unlocking future economic growth in areas such as AI capability, data centres and gigafactories, to name but a few. And, of course, delivering the energy transition is critical to achieving the government’s net zero targets. And targets matter.”
Resilient, secure power supply is business-critical for data centres. A proven, long-established solution that can help reduce energy consumption by removing issues of overvoltage represents a risk-free element of any company’s sustainability strategy.
When looking to lower energy bills, eradicating overvoltage can reduce energy spend. The level of cost saving will vary, depending on the specific site and the supply from the Grid, as well as the on-site equipment – hence a full site survey should be the first step to determine requirements and anticipated ROI. But, generally speaking, most sites will benefit from including VO as part of their energy management mix.
The issue of overvoltage stems from the National Grid’s legal obligation to provide an allowable range, whereby it typically supplies around 245 V to meet its statutory requirements. Most electrical equipment in the UK is designed to operate at 220 V, meaning a significant disconnect between Grid supply and required voltage, given that Grid supply can actually be up to 253 V.
Operating at a higher than necessary voltage presents a number of issues: wasted energy, with unnecessary expenditure; concomitant carbon emissions from this wasted energy, and wear and tear on plant and equipment.
The role of voltage optimisation
For data centres, this last issue is a significant one. Even minor spikes or sags in voltage can lead to sensitive equipment tripping or shutting down, potentially resulting in the corruption or loss of client data. The protection that VO offers can mitigate issues around voltage fluctuation, extending the lifespan of sensitive and critical equipment and reducing routine maintenance costs.
Many businesses already include VO as part of their energy management strategy but, particularly for those with older systems, investigating modern dynamic VO as an alternative to traditional technology can lead to significant benefits – both for cost savings and emission reduction.
For any site or business where overvoltage is a problem, VO is an efficient, easy-to-install means to address both cost- and carbon-related issues. For data centres, where any proposed energy technology benefits must be balanced with the demand for secure, reliable solutions, VO is an obvious choice.
As a long-established technology, but one with modern dynamic improvements, it is both risk-free and transparent in the gains it offers: for lower energy spend, reduced carbon emissions, and better-conditioned power supply.
