Smart Grids To Manage Energy In Data Centers
Power consumption in data centers has a decisive influence on the cost and environmental impact of operations, and the industry is looking for ways to reduce it. To this end, a new generation of technologies has emerged that allow the construction of intelligent energy networks that automatically control the supply to auxiliary equipment and systems, and manufacturers of energy storage systems and UPS are modernizing their products to adapt them to these scenarios.
The data center industry is looking for ways to improve its energy efficiency to reduce its costs and the environmental impact of its operations. This is stimulating the contracting of renewable energy supplies. Still, operators are also studying the use of new technologies to improve energy management and reduce the general consumption of the facilities.
Traditionally, Uninterruptible Power Systems (UPS or SAI) are used, which minimize the impact of a cut in the electricity supply from outside. These integrate battery energy storage systems (BESS) activated by excessive fluctuations in the current flow. In many cases, redundant systems guarantee maximum reliability and service availability in data centers. In addition, many operators contract services from several energy providers to offer full guarantees to customers.
All this oversizing generates excessive and, in many cases, useless energy consumption, which produces a higher operating cost and increases the carbon footprint of data centers. These traditional approaches are proving inadequate to balance business goals with increasingly ambitious industry commitments to the environment, and new concepts are emerging that promise massive improvements in inefficiency.
The most revolutionary is constructing an intelligent energy network in the facilities, which integrates all the devices related to electricity supply and consumption, constantly monitoring and regulating energy flows to make the most of it. This implies that the UPS systems must interact with the energy network and the other associated systems, contributing to this energy management. All these devices generate information about the availability and level of power they need, which is used to understand the workloads’ requirements better and provide what is necessary in each case.
Through intelligent energy management systems that collect this data, the supply, the UPS systems, and the batteries they use can be optimized to the maximum. This requires a new generation of power and energy storage devices, and some of the industry’s leading manufacturers are working to equip their products with these capabilities. Experts believe this will bring them great benefits, thanks to the expanding sustainability stream in the data center sector.
A recently published article by research firm picks up current trends in data center power supplies, revealing that the market for UPS and battery technologies compatible with intelligent power management is growing. This accompanies developing the smart energy grid concept, which establishes a bidirectional information channel from energy providers to the end-user.
To integrate into such a wide interactive smart grid, data centers are investing in new UPS and intelligent batteries, monitoring systems, and energy management automation, a trend towards distributed energy resources that will spread in the coming years. especially in extensive facilities. UPSs with these interactive capabilities and compatible with intelligent networks are called standby UPS (UPSaaR), although experts commonly refer to them as smart grid-ready UPS.
Media highlights the role of Big manufacturers . They already offer this type of equipment and are highly involved in new technologies for intelligent management of data centers, such as DCIM systems that integrate monitoring-wise management of facilities. The market for these systems and brilliant grid-ready UPS and BESS is set to grow in the coming years as data centers pursue greater energy efficiency and integration with smart grids.
