The future of data center power Ebook

> eBook >> The future of

data center power Future-proofing the data center industry with sustainable highperformance power solutions

>> Contents

4 Introduction current affair: Why more AI means more 5 Apower

8 Weathering the storm(s)

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cell use in data centers: How much do 11 Fuel you know? hydrogen economy: Data centers of the 13 The future

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hydrogen and green nuclear: It’s all in 15 Gold the names

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Zero Downtime: Hydrogen with Mark 16 DCD Monroe, Microsoft

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17 Can data centers catalyze a hydrogen market?

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The path to a hydrogen powered 18 Panel: future panel: Hydrogen and the search for 19 Major alternative data center energy sources

20 All you need to know about microgrids Data centers tap into the future of onsite 23 Grid: power

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supply chains: Is there enough to go 26 HVO around?

30 When natural gas beats the grid 32 Industry trailblazers 34 Finally, a nuclear powered data center?

37 Q&A with Bloom Energy

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>> DCD eBook | The future of data center power

Introduction Data centers, are the backbone of our digital world. But with the demand placed on data centers snowballing at a seemingly unprecedented rate, many operators are finding themselves in a somewhat perplexing predicament when it comes to powering their facilities.

As if the rapid proliferation of high-density workloads, such as generative AI and machine learning wasn’t challenging enough, this, married with the burden of aging infrastructure, an unreliable grid and increased sustainable scrutiny only serves to compound the issue.

So, how do we achieve the high-performance power required to essentially run the world without damaging the planet?

In this solutions-based eBook we examine the type of workloads guilty of piling on the pressure, present a plethora of planet-friendly power solutions, and take a look at some of the inspirational industry trailblazers getting it right.

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A current affair: Why more AI means more power

Chris Merrimann DCD

Exploring the hidden challenges of highdensity data centers

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ately the AI industry has been making waves, pushing the boundaries of what machines can do in terms of creativity and human-like outputs.

For example, ChatGPT reached 100 million monthly active users earlier this year, with 10 million daily queries.

Generative AI is truly remarkable – changing the way we work, the way we do business, and even the way we create. Yet, this is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Today, ChatGPT is a standalone application.

When integrated into search

Just a single machine learning model can emit more than 626,000 pounds of carbon dioxide equivalent over its lifetime, which is five times the lifetime emissions of an average American car

engines, such as Microsoft’s Bing, it is used for any search from any user, which will not only return more accurate and meaningful search results as the neural network learns, but will lead to an exponential increase in overall usage.

But, there’s a catch. As generative AI models become more complex and demanding, they consume even more significant amounts of power.

That poses some challenges for the data center industry, especially when it comes to meeting intense power requirements. Let's break it down.

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>> DCD eBook | The future of data center power As generative AI models become more capable, they require larger datasets for training, further amplifying their computational requirements

The power-intensive nature of generative AI

network's parameters to optimize its performance and output.

Generative AI has come a long way in recent years, thanks to a perfect storm of factors. We've seen advancements in hardware like GPUs, which can handle heavy computational demands.

Plus, the availability of large-scale datasets and the development of sophisticated architectures and algorithms have made training AI more effective than ever before.

With the advent of cloud computing platforms, access to substantial computational resources has enabled faster training times and experimentation with larger models.

This iterative process is computationally intensive and demands substantial computational resources, often in the form of powerful GPUs or specialized hardware accelerators. In fact, just a single machine learning model can emit more than 626,000 pounds of carbon dioxide equivalent over its lifetime, which is five times the lifetime emissions of an average American car. That's no small number.

It's been an exciting journey so far, but with great power comes great emissions. The more intricate and capable these generative AI models become, the more computational resources they require, which means more power consumption.

Intuitive generative AI models are capable of understanding and analyzing vast amounts of data, detecting patterns, and generating outputs that are both novel and remarkably accurate. To achieve this level of sophistication, these models rely on deep neural networks with numerous layers and parameters.

The training process involves feeding the model with extensive datasets and iteratively adjusting the

As generative AI models become more capable, they require larger datasets for training, further amplifying their computational requirements. These datasets can consist of millions or even billions of examples, necessitating extensive processing power to analyze and extract meaningful insights. Additionally, the increased complexity of the models results in longer training times, consuming additional computational resources over extended periods.

The relationship between the intricacy and capability of generative AI models and their power consumption is a significant concern from both environmental and practical perspectives. The energy consumption associated with powering these models not only contributes to carbon

emissions and environmental degradation but also poses challenges for data center operators and power infrastructure providers.

The challenges of powering highdensity data centers The vast majority of existing data centers are not equipped to handle the rack densities these devices require. A typical rack may be providing only eight-20 kW, which is adequate for traditional enterprise servers and storage, but not GPUs which demand three to four times that amount.

Due to the current power available to each rack, the full potential of GPUs remains untapped, resulting in underutilized rack space and suboptimal resource allocation, all of which means reduced efficiency, higher operational costs, and scalability challenges. To the data center developer, this could mean losing tenants and/or not attracting a large subset of new tenants who wish to deploy these high-density devices.

To accommodate the energyintensive nature of AI workloads, integrating GPUs into data center infrastructure requires significant modifications, including the need to upgrade power distribution systems, transmission and substation upgrades, deploying new cooling technologies, and rethinking physical space arrangements. It's

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a balancing act, finding the sweet spot between power availability and rack utilization, ensuring efficient resource utilization while attempting to not overload the power infrastructure, risking disruptions.

Retooling the world’s data centers "We're seeing incredible orders to retool the world's data centers. I think you're seeing the beginning of, call it, a 10-year transition to basically recycle or reclaim the world's data centers and build it out as accelerated computing," Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang said.

"You'll have a pretty dramatic shift in the spend of a data center from traditional computing and to accelerate computing with SmartNICs, smart switches, of course, GPUs and the workload is going to be predominantly generative AI." Industry leaders like Huang envision a monumental shift in the landscape of data centers. The increasing demand for accelerated computing, driven by the rise of generative AI workloads, is prompting significant orders to retool existing data centers. This marks the start of a transformative transition towards repurposing and revitalizing these facilities for accelerated computing purposes.

With this transition, data centers will undergo a remarkable transformation. Traditional computing approaches will give way to the dominance of accelerated computing facilitated by SmartNICs, smart switches, and GPUs. The focus will be on unlocking the full potential of generative AI workloads, shaping the future of data centers.

As we navigate this transformative period, it becomes crucial for industry leaders to recognize the magnitude of this transition.

Distributed energy solutions: A shift towards decentralization Here's where industry leaders can truly make a difference.

We're seeing incredible orders to retool the world's data centers. I think you're seeing the beginning of, call it, a 10-year transition to basically recycle or reclaim the world's data centers and build it out as accelerated computing

> Jensen Huang Nvidia

The centralized electrical grid is struggling to keep up with the surging energy demands of AI workloads, especially with the increasing adoption of GPUintensive tasks. This strain on the power infrastructure not only challenges its capacity but also contributes to a concerning rise in carbon emissions, hampering global efforts to combat climate change. To address these pressing issues, a shift towards distributed energy solutions is imperative.

Distributed energy solutions offer a decentralized approach to power generation, empowering data centers to reduce their carbon footprint and reduce their reliance on traditional power grids. However, the benefits extend beyond environmental concerns. Embracing distributed energy solutions bolsters the resilience and reliability of the power supply, safeguarding the industry against disruptions caused by centralized power infrastructure limitations.

In this landscape, Bloom Energy is poised to seize a unique opportunity. By providing solutions that supplement existing power infrastructure in data centers, Bloom can swiftly meet the increased energy demands without the need for lengthy substation or transmission upgrades. This agility enables developers and colocation providers to upgrade their capacity, accommodating the higher power requirements of GPU workloads in a timely manner. Bloom energy servers can work seamlessly with existing infrastructure,

especially when there is also grid power available. We can simply supplement the existing power capacity directly to the building, working in conjunction with a centralized supply.

Bloom's Primary Energy Server (PES) stands as a testament to its commitment to rapid deployment and reliable power solutions. With multiple CAPEX or financing options, Bloom can align with the financial needs of customers who are willing to pay a premium lease rate to access the higher power densities demanded by GPU workloads. For the developer, Bloom can increase rack densities quickly, enabling the retooling of existing space in order to accommodate the 30+ kW per rack demand.

Imagine a groundbreaking power ecosystem for generative AI workloads, where decentralized energy solutions not only drastically diminish the facility's carbon footprint but also amplify reliability and pricing predictability for the customer/tenant. Now you don’t have to. Additionally, a Bloom deployment ensures future-proofing from a green hydrogen standpoint, so when the distribution of green hydrogen and corresponding economics are established, Bloom stands poised with a zero-carbon power solution.

To learn more about Bloom’s distributed energy solutions for data centers please visit bloomenergy. com/industries/data-centers. 

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>> DCD eBook | The future of data center power

Weathering the storm(s)

Claire Fletcher DCD

New-age problems require new-age solutions. DCD sat down with Bloom Energy to find out how we can hope to combat the resiliency challenge catalyzed by climate change

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ife doesn’t get easier or more forgiving, we get stronger and more resilient,” Steve Maraboli, Life, the Truth, and Being Free After the last couple of years, we can probably all agree that life certainly isn’t getting any easier. But human beings have an unbridled ability to overcome, problem solve, and endure. Our resilience is what keeps us alive.

Earlier this year, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres issued some stark words of warning, stating that the world is ‘changing before our eyes’ as a result of climate change.

And he’s right. The State of the

Global Climate 2021 report showed 2021 to be among the hottest years on record, with flooding, wildfires and other extreme weather events being reported across the globe on a seemingly daily basis.

Over the last few years, residents across the UK have dealt with severe damage left in the wake of various high impact storms the likes of Storm Arwen, Storm Barra and Storm Christoff, the latter which saw residents across North Wales and North-West England evacuated from their homes due to extreme flooding.

At the time, Liberal Democrat councillor Richard Kilpatrick told the Manchester Evening News the

atmosphere was one of “anxiety and disbelief”, an all too common trope in what has been dubbed the ‘new normal.’

In the US, Texans experienced winter storms so extreme that 3.5 million businesses and homes were left without power, leaving vulnerable people to fend for themselves as temperatures dropped to as low as -13°C in some areas. As a result, 210 lives were lost.

Risky business Today, a day without power is hard to imagine, yet the unprecedented increase in extreme weather threatens the 24/7 power that is

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integral to our everyday lives.

Thinking has now shifted from the cost of power, to the cost of not having power.

During 2020 alone, there were 22 billion-dollar weather and climate events across the United States, breaking the previous annual record of 16 (occuring in 2011, and 2017.)

With the risk landscape having increased so dramatically, resilient power has never been more important, and having the right safeguards in place is no longer a ‘nice to have’, but a necessity, particularly for those whose power choices are directly linked to the functioning – and success – of their organizations.

This couldn’t be truer than for those operating data centers, where the mitigation of these problems calls for a highly strategic approach to energy management. Fortunately, we are now in a time where there are multiple options for sourcing and delivering electricity.

Distributed generation is one of them and has been a game changer for those seeking to gain more control over their electricity supply, completely shifting the energy paradigm.

From a centralized present to a distributed future Taking the US energy grid as an example. Over the course of the 20th century, it was built as a oneway value chain from fuel supply to end-user consumption. This infrastructure created a plethora of vulnerabilities, whereby the failure of a single component could (and still can) cause disruption of service to end users.

Although grid hardening programs are underway in every region, upgrading a system of this magnitude is complex, expensive and takes years to properly implement. So, what do you do when a solution is needed now, if not sooner?

Thinking has shifted from the cost of power, to the cost of not having power

With an aging centralized power grid inherently prone to failure, with increasing pressure from mass digitization, natural disasters and cyber-threats, it is promising that we are beginning to see a shift from our centralized present, to a decentralized future.

One solution rapidly gaining traction across industries is the microgrid. Microgrids empower businesses to meet their own specific electricity needs, while helping utilities address the broader challenge of decarbonizing the grid.

Microgrids are distributed onsite power solutions that can disconnect from the traditional grid to operate autonomously. These localized sources of power can link multiple generation technologies at a single site, enabling facilities to not only mitigate risk, but achieve energy independence and therefore improve resilience.

Microgrids are gaining traction because they essentially mean life can go on should the surrounding electrical grid become unavailable.

Whether it be critical loads or an entire community, in the increasingly likely event of grid failure, with a microgrid, you have peace of mind that business can continue as usual.

The resiliency challenge Looking at the world around us, a world now shaped by the snowballing growth of information and communications technology, one thing is clear: data is the oil of the 21st century. Therefore, we need to ensure the facilities in which it resides remain free from risk.

At the same time, while businesses address their critical resiliency needs, the growing onus placed on a green energy future, coupled with the effects of rising energy costs has made the business of selecting power sources a little tricker.

Most distributed energy sources (DER) are self-sufficient, but not one size fits all. Resiliency is just one benefit microgrids provide, but decisions based on resiliency shouldn't be made at the expense of environmental concerns. In the same breath, equally, sustainability decisions shouldn’t ignore the importance of a reliable energy supply.

Historically, the typical power resilience strategy for data centers has always been backup generators, predominantly powered by diesel. Unfortunately, when grid disruptions arise, there have been cases where data center generators haven’t reliably started up as expected, highlighting the operational risk that comes with relying solely on the grid for primary power.

Diesel generators also produce more than 40 toxic air contaminants, including a variety of carcinogenic compounds during operation. What’s more, as they are idle assets, they needlessly consume fuel while testing to ensure they can be available when needed. Even when traditional diesel generators are combined with a UPS system, there is still a need for higher resilience over longer sustained periods.

Technologies such as solar and wind are great for boosting a data center operator’s renewable profile, but due to their intermittent nature and land use, cannot practically solve resiliency challenges. Plus, the majority of solar (60 percent) and wind (100 percent) are utility scale that still rely on a vulnerable, above ground, transmission and distribution system.

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>> DCD eBook | The future of data center power With an aging centralized power grid inherently prone to failure, with increasing pressure from mass digitization, natural disasters and cyberthreats, it is promising that we are beginning to see a shift from our centralized present, to a decentralized future Introducing Bloom’s AlwaysON Microgrid platform Thankfully, help is at hand.

Bloom’s AlwaysON Microgrid platform is specifically designed to help mitigate the key resiliency challenges faced by traditional mission critical power infrastructure, while incorporating air and water sustainability.

With the AlwaysON Microgrid platform, the functions of today’s centralized power infrastructure i.e., the transmission, distribution, substations, batteries, and back-up equipment, are all integrated into a single distributed generation platform, avoiding the vulnerabilities of conventional transmission and distribution lines by generating power onsite where the electricity is consumed.

The beauty of microgrids is the fact that they can operate alongside a main grid, but can continue providing power during a utility outage. This independence equals resilient power.

How it works: fuel cell building blocks Bloom Energy’s systems utilize an innovative solid oxide fuel cell technology with roots in NASA’s Mars program. Fuel cell technology

targets a customer’s 24/7 energy usage, unlike technologies such as solar or wind which are inherently intermittent.

The cell itself consists of three parts: an electrolyte, an anode (-), and a cathode (+). The electrolyte is a solid ceramic material, and the anode and cathode are made from special inks that coat the electrolyte.

Through an electrochemical reaction, Bloom energy servers can produce electricity without combustion.

The system starts with a single cell that produces 25W, roughly enough to power a light bulb. The cells are then stacked within the system and assembled into 50 kW power modules – modules that can function independently from each other.

These modules are then combined to create a 200, 250 or 300 kW Bloom Energy Server. This modular, fault-tolerant architecture also means the system is able to operate at a very high availability and allows for any number of energy servers to be clustered together, in various configurations, to form solutions from hundreds of kilowatts to many tens of megawatts.

This highly available always-on primary power source boasts sixnines (99.9999 percent) reliability,

eliminating the need to invest in operating and maintaining legacy equipment that tends to fail during transitional events such as loss of utility power.

Comparable to best-in-class UPS systems deployed in data centers and other mission critical facilities, the power quality delivered by Bloom Energy Servers is designed to meet or exceed the power quality standards relevant to distributed power generation and distribution, such as, UL-1741, IEEE-1547, IEEE-519 and other utility grid interconnection requirements in the US and other countries around the world.

What’s more, Bloom Energy’s distributed, modular architecture produces power 24/7 without particulate emissions, ideal for striking that crucial balance between ESG (environmental, social and governance) concerns and power resilience.

This is not a UPS or generator sitting idle waiting for an outage event – this is an active asset delivering clean, highly reliable power around the clock. A win-win when it comes to providing the solutions needed to help customers weather any storm, both now and in the future. 

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Fuel cell use in data centers: How much do you know?

The industry won't move from pilot projects to largescale use of fuel cells without a greater understanding of the technology

Ed Ansett i3 Solutions Group

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he potential of fuel cells to cut the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with powering data centers was a recurring conversation topic across the industry in 2022. It looks like a debate which is also set to continue in 2023 and beyond.

However, the year 2022 may yet turn out to have been pivotal for hydrogen fuel cells for backup power and even primary data center power uses.

Across the world, there was positive news about hydrogen fuel cells as a cleaner alternative, such as that provided

by Microsoft.

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>> DCD eBook | The future of data center power demand for fuel cells for backup power in data centers as one of the key factors driving growth.

Fuel cell adoption in the industry remains low, partly due to concernts about reliability, availability, fuel supply and cost of ownership > Ed Ansett i3 Solutions Group

Building a fuel cell backup As part of its data center advanced development strategy, the technology giant ran a proof of concept in Latham, New York, where dual 40ft containers housing proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell technology ran at 3MW capacity to provide emission-free power for around 10,000 data center servers.

The story is fully documented in Microsoft’s case study.

In September, it was reported that Equinix and the National University of Singapore are to test hydrogen fuel cells as a power source for data centers in the city-state.

According to an article published

by DatacenterDynamics, the plan is to run a comparison between hydrogen fuel cells and "fuel flexible" linear generators, which can run on hydrogen, or else shift to other renewable fuels such as biogas when necessary.

In February 2022, Dutch Data center business NorthC announced its new facility in Groningen would have fuel cells that could run on green hydrogen, claiming it was a European first for data center design. The 500KW fuel cell module will run on hydrogen created by renewable power.

Recent analysis by Emergen Research, a market research and strategic consulting company, says “the fuel cell market size reached $4.26 billion in 2021 and is expected to register a CAGR of 22.8 percent”.

The company cites the growing

In addition to their high efficiency, low carbon footprint, and ability to provide reliable power, hydrogen fuel cells also appeal because they can help data centers save money by reducing the amount of energy wasted during the power generation process, says Emergen.

More details of the Fuel Cells Market Report can be found on the Emergen website.

Fuel cells are projected to achieve cost parity with diesel generators in data centers, partly driven by the higher adoption of fuel cells for transportation applications > Ed Ansett i3 Solutions Group

How applicable are fuel cells?

The above examples provide a flavor of the news coverage and broader discussion around fuel cells. For those in the data center industry who wish to explore the potential of fuel cell use, i3 Solutions Group has produced a white paper entitled: “Assessment of fuel cells application in data centers for greenhouse gas abatement benefits.”

This publication provides a highlevel perspective on the application benefits of and challenges to fuel cell use for data center backup and primary power. It provides a simple description of fuel cells by operation and type, as well as detailing the different fuel cell types suitable for use in data centers. Details of primary and backup power configurations are also provided.

The white paper explains the sustainability benefits of fuel cell technology in terms of emissions abatement, reduced transmission losses, and potential for heat reuse.

It also includes a comparison of the sustainability performance indicators of some fuel cells versus traditional gas turbines and combined cycle gas turbines (CCGT), with natural gas as the common fuel.

From potential to production Whilst the white paper indicates there are many clear sustainability advantages to be gained by using fuel cells for data centers, actual

adoption today remains low. This may in part be due to perceptions held by the industry about fuel cells, from concerns about reliability and availability to those regarding fuel supply and the cost of ownership.

However, fuel cells are projected to achieve cost parity with diesel generators in data centers, partly driven by the higher adoption of fuel cells for transportation applications. More widespread use in other sectors will help inform and educate regarding fuel cell technology, driving improvements to the technology, and providing the economies of scale associated with higher volumes such as reductions in the cost of key components and manufacturing.

To further reduce carbon emissions and GHG abatements, pure hydrogen fuel cells have been developed. And as per the examples detailed above, hydrogen fuel cells are being piloted and tested as replacements for diesel generator backup power in data centers.

However, if fuel cells are truly to move from potential to production in the data center industry, overcoming the challenges identified in “Assessment of fuel cells application in data centers for greenhouse gas abatement benefits” could be key to the more widespread use of fuel cells for further GHG abatements throughout the sector.

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The hydrogen economy: Data centers of the future Is the solid oxide platform the world’s answer to accelerating hydrogen adoption?

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hat the world needs now (apart from love, sweet love) is a viable, longterm energy solution.

With fossil fuels a finite resource, most renewables highly intermittent, and batteries ineffective for extended periods of time, many believe the answer lies within the universe’s most abundant element: hydrogen. Green hydrogen, to be precise

particularly when pitted against PEM (proton exchange membrane) and alkaline electrolyzers.

Amongst electrolyzer technology, solid oxide is widely recognized for its potential to generate green hydrogen at the lowest cost,

With 66 countries across the globe currently committed to net-zero targets in the coming decades, it’s clear we need a clean,

This is largely due to the superior efficiency and scalability of solid oxide electrolyzers, as well as their rapidly declining costs, according to Jack Brouwer, director of the National Fuel Cell Research Center at UC Irvine.

Claire Fletcher DCD

flexible answer to energy. The EU has already committed to build 40 GW of electrolyzers this decade, an investment of roughly €24B and is considering importing another 40 GW from countries like Morocco which benefit from lower hydrogen production costs.

Governments are increasingly recognizing the need for hydrogen too, to complement renewable power and plug the gaps left by their intermittency. In terms of renewable power serving as the electricity input used to produce green hydrogen, some of the largest electrolysis deployments have been linked to dedicated renewable projects.

On the other side of the world, a new Green Deal in Korea has seen the country commit to 200,000 hydrogen powered vehicles, as well as 450 refuelling stations by 2030. Elsewhere, programs such as California’s Low-Carbon Fuel Standard have spurred early momentum in the US, with the Biden administration vying to make hydrogen a key element in its fight against climate change, as well as playing a key role in decarbonization.

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>> DCD eBook | The future of data center power And as hydrogen’s market momentum continues to build – with a 20-fold increase in announced projects over the last 18 months globally – could green hydrogen finally be the holy grail we’ve been waiting for?

The solid oxide advantage Combining the advantages of scalability and flexibility, with higher production efficiencies thanks to a supply chain that relies on readily available materials, Bloom Energy has established itself as a global leader in solid oxide technology with its power generation unit, the Bloom Energy Server, deployed at data centers, hospitals, retail locations, and even reaching utility scale.

Leveraging 15-years of experience and a scaled-up solid oxide platform, married with strong hydrogen intellectual property (including 19 patents) Bloom is positioned to create uniquely differentiated hydrogen and power generation solutions.

Bloom’s hydrogen journey started more than 20 years ago, when founders selected solid oxide technology for NASA’s first planned mission to Mars. This flight-ready hardware was intended to produce oxygen and hydrogen from solar power.

This solid oxide technology would later form the basis of Bloom’s core Energy Server platform, with demonstrations in 2005 producing both hydrogen and power. At the time, there wasn’t a sufficient market for hydrogen, so Bloom systems initially recycled the produced hydrogen back into the system to boost efficiency and reduce emissions, a mode Bloom’s fleets still operate in today.

That said, the rapid improvements across the hydrogen economy are beginning to facilitate real solutions at scale. Solid oxide offers many competitive advantages across a range of hydrogen production scenarios, for example, utilizing excess renewables or integrating with large sources of steam from industrial processes and nuclear reactors.

This kind of flexibility has the potential to open doors to several global end-use markets that might have previously been off-limits, including steel and chemical manufacturing, long-haul transportation and wholesale power, to name but a few.

Digging deeper Hydrogen isn’t a readily available substance on Earth, it requires a primary input energy source to be produced. The traditional way of doing this uses fossil fuels.

Green hydrogen, however, can be produced via electrolysis, which uses zero-carbon electricity to split water at the molecular level into hydrogen and oxygen, through a device called an electrolyzer.

Since the cost of electricity can account for up to 80 percent of the total cost of hydrogen production, maximizing efficiency is the key to unlocking affordable green hydrogen.

Turning up the heat The electrical energy required to produce hydrogen changes with the temperature of the input water.

Solid oxide technology is capable of utilizing steam as an input, which creates a critical advantage when it comes to cost-effective hydrogen production.

Bloom has years of experience building and optimizing commercial high temperature solid oxide systems that are thermally packaged to minimize heat loss.

electrical energy requirement and associated costs.

Unlike PEM and alkaline electrolyzers that predominantly rely on electricity and water to make hydrogen, Bloom Electrolyzers can substitute a good proportion of electricity with steam.

Hydrogen goes global With several governments having already announced explicit hydrogen investment targets, subsidy schemes and regulatory frameworks, it’s clear that there is a seat at the table for green hydrogen.

Companies like Bloom are working hard to make hydrogen a viable and affordable asset for all, with the view to make this technology cost-competitive in the future. After all, access to abundant, clean, reliable power should be a necessity available to all, not just those with the deepest pockets.

For data centers, hydrogen can be utilized as a zero-carbon fuel for reliable onsite power production.

Using fuel cells paired with hydrogen puts data centers in control over their decarbonization targets, while simultaneously improving their overall power reliability and ensuring predictable costs.

When thinking about the data center of the future, we think about unparalleled levels of reliability, a zero-carbon footprint, and predictable and low costs. Hydrogen is making a case that it can deliver on all three of these necessities. 

The Bloom Electrolyzer operates at high temperatures of between 700 and 850°C, using solid oxide electrolysis cells (SOEC) as the catalyst for a reaction. The heat serves as a secondary source of energy to help this happen, significantly reducing the

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Click here to watch

Gold hydrogen and green nuclear: It’s all in the names

Peter Judge DCD

The hydrogen economy is partly a matter of definitions

H

ydrogen is the "fuel of the future." It is billed as the answer to green transport and green energy for industry. But right now, we don't have the infrastructure to produce it and deliver it where it is needed.

To create a hydrogen economy, we need a hydrogen infrastructure.

To build that, we need to know what we are doing this for, and we also need some definitions.

And that's where it starts getting complex.

Not a fuel?

Firstly, far from being the "fuel of the future," is hydrogen even a fuel? Not according to Popular Mechanics, which says it's merely "a way of

storing or transporting energy. You have to make it before you can use it."

hydrogen, and you have a chance of decarbonizing transport (as well as industrial sectors like steelmaking.)

You can see PM's point. Pure hydrogen doesn't occur naturally (or maybe it does, but we'll get back to that.) But it does have a high energy density. Hydrogen holds more than 150 times more energy per kg than lithium-ion batteries and even holds three times the energy density per kilo of gasoline or diesel. It's also easy to make from water, using electricity.

That's why the US Department of Energy (DOE) announced a $7 billion plan in 2022 to create a hydrogen program, which includes an "earth shot" aiming to reduce the price of clean hydrogen to $1 per kg within one decade, making hydrogen an alternative energy source.

So if you can make hydrogen it makes sense, as it gives you a readily storable and transportable form of energy. With that energy density, you can run vehicles on

It's also why the EU has a clean hydrogen plan with equally big goals. It wants to produce 10 million tonnes and import another 10 million tonnes of renewable hydrogen in the EU by 2030.

But how do you make it, and how do you transport it?

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>> DCD eBook | The future of data center power Practicalities

The spectrum

Hydrogen is a gas, which can be consumed in turbines and fuel cells, much like natural gas. But this similarity is deceptive.

How you make hydrogen is also very significant. Ideally, it will be made by electrolysis, using water and renewable electricity – a source labeled as "green hydrogen".

Natural gas is a fossil fuel (methane), and its molecules are large compared with hydrogen which has the smallest, lightest atoms in the periodic table.

But there are other sources in what is called the "hydrogen rainbow."

Generators running on natural gas need to be changed if they are going to be run on hydrogen, something that firms like Rolls-Royce are already doing – and it seems to be a relatively straightforward job.

But moving hydrogen is different. It might seem obvious that the best way to move to a hydrogen infrastructure is to upgrade the natural gas infrastructure, but this isn't necessarily the right way to go.

Transporting hydrogen is different from natural gas. Put simply, it is more likely to leak slowly out of any container or pipe, and pipes designed for natural gas won't work well with pure hydrogen. This means that moves to put hydrogen into existing gas pipes sound like a dubious proposition.

Most projects, like the US Hyblend initiative, blend hydrogen with natural gas in existing pipelines, but this is difficult to do in concentrations above 20 percent, so it won't allow actual decarbonization.

These include "black or brown" hydrogen, made from coal or oil - a pointless exercise from the point of view of decarbonization, or "grey" hydrogen made from natural gas, which again seems pointless as the process releases as much CO2 as burning the natural gas in the first place.

So-called "blue" hydrogen is made from methane – but with the addition of carbon capture to remove the CO2 generated.

As carbon capture is still pretty theoretical, or at least in its infancy, that's not really of any interest.

If hydrogen is made from electrolysis, there are further colors, since not all electricity is renewable. Hydrogen made using electrolysis powered by nuclear energy has sometimes been called "pink" hydrogen, and it recently hit the headlines in Europe, where it has been recognized as low-carbon hydrogen in the bloc's hydrogen strategy.

A less-common source is "gold" hydrogen, which is naturally occurring hydrogen that can

sometimes be found leaking from underground deposits. An Australian company, Gold Hydrogen, plans to exploit it in the Ramsay Peninsula and Kangaroo Island. No one is sure how much natural hydrogen there is, or how easy it will be to exploit, but another company is planning to create underground hydrogen.

Camvita Factory says it can inject microbes and nutrients into spent oil wells, and the microbes will digest the remaining deposits of oil, creating hydrogen and CO2.

Scientists dispute Camvita's claim that this is "gold" hydrogen, as it requires human intervention to produce it. It's also not "green," as CO2 is produced alongside. It would be "blue" at best if Camvita can reliably apply carbon storage to keep the CO2 underground.

Points to watch for When the hydrogen economy arrives, it won't be in your homes or offices, but it will be at industrial sites, in trucks and planes, and in data centers. It will be consumed in fuel cells and turbines. The vast majority will be generated from electricity.

We will be offered five percent or 20 percent hydrogen blends, but that won't be good enough for decarbonization.

And while there is such a thing as gold hydrogen, I don't think there will be a pot of gold hydrogen at the end of the hydrogen rainbow. 

In any case, the existing natural gas pipeline network doesn't match where hydrogen is needed. In areas covered by natural gas grids, the pipes go to most homes and offices for heating and cooling. But these are uses that are better decarbonized by using electricity, instead of green hydrogen.

We will end up with a smaller network of pure hydrogen pipes which go to fewer places – and in particular to industrial and infrastructure sites, as well as stations to refill hydrogen vehicles.

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Click here to listen

Can data centers catalyze a hydrogen market?

Peter Judge DCD

The hydrogen economy has a much bigger role than providing backup power for data centers.

But it has to start somewhere

J

ust like carbon capture and nuclear fusion, the hydrogen economy is a massive undertaking that some see as the magic bullet to stop climate breakdown.

Like those other technologies, it's in danger of being hyped. It's running late. It's still in development, and it's going to have to progress at an almost impossible speed if it is to make a difference.

It's also got the data center industry lining up to try and boost it.

H2 in the pipeline What's so great about hydrogen? It's a fuel which can be burnt in fuel cells and gas turbines, and it can be stored and piped. What's more impressive is, when it's burnt or consumed in a fuel cell, the

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>> DCD eBook | The future of data center power output is clear water. There's no carbon in pure hydrogen gas, and no CO2 emissions.

Hydrogen is hailed as the way to decarbonize any sector which absolutely requires burning a fuel – from steel making and concrete production, to long haul transport and sea cargo transport. Data centers also have their eye on it, because they need long term energy storage for power backups. They have batteries inside the building, and diesel generators outside, with a big tank of fuel at the ready. A cylinder of hydrogen or a ready pipelined supply could be the answer to decarbonizing that part of the facility.

The trouble is, environmentally clean "green" hydrogen is hard to come by. The world has a hydrogen business, but as the Economist describes it, the business is "small and dirty.” We make 90 million tons of hydrogen a year at a cost of $150 billion, but almost none of that is any good as a replacement for fossil fuels – because it is actually produced from fossil fuel. Almost all hydrogen is made by "steamreforming" – combining steam and natural gas, a process which creates vast amounts of CO2.

If data centers catalyze a hydrogen market, that might just kickstart the hydrogen economy the world needs Bloomberg predicts that green hydrogen could fall to $2 per kg by 2030, and it could be pushed in the right direction by regulations imposing a high carbon price on the emissions created by gray hydrogen.

Kickstarting hydrogen But there are other problems to using hydrogen instead of diesel.

Hydrogen is a very small molecule compared with methane. It leaks easily and it is hard to transport it via the kind of pipe infrastructure people want. Stored hydrogen evaporates gradually, so applications also need a way to use that slow release of energy rather than waste it.

Microsoft has done the highest profile work with hydrogen, running several racks of servers from hydrogen fuel cells for 48 hours in 2020. And the company is actively engaged in trying to get hydrogen more fully in use.

But let's keep some perspective.

In the medium term, data centers will only ever use hydrogen for backup, which is a tiny proportion of their energy needs. Data centers can afford to pay a premium which other industries can't so if they manage to seed a hydrogen economy, it will be a premium-price fuel created to meet green targets.

That industry will produce a minuscule fraction of what the world requires if we're going to decarbonize heavy industries.

But as with other green technologies, you have to start somewhere. A growing market for hydrogen back up at data centers will catalyze technology developments that could spread elsewhere. That could start to drive down prices and encourage the spread of infrastructure. 

Even before it can start replacing fossil fuels, hydrogen is already important. It is used to make industrial ammonia, that is used in turn to make artificial fertilisers which feed the world.

Hydrogen made from methane is known as "gray hydrogen" (make it from oil or coal and it is referred to as gray or black.) In theory, you could apply carbon capture which would remove the carbon dioxide and get so-called environmentallybetter "blue hydrogen.” But what we really need is "green" hydrogen, made from electrolyzing water, using renewable electricity sources.

The trouble is that green hydrogen is expensive, costing around $5 per kg, compared with $1 per kg for gray hydrogen.

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Click here to donload

>Major panel: >> H ydrogen and the search

for alternative data center energy sources

Click to download

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>> DCD eBook | The future of data center power

Source: Pixabay

All you need to know about microgrids

Vlad-Gabriel Anghel DCD

The local power landscape can give you autonomy, save money, and maybe provide you with better backup

R

eliable power delivery remains one of the greatest engineering challenges we face, and the solutions to this challenge have driven advances in computing performance and capability.

demand seen by data centers. The latest numbers from the Uptime Institute show that the average per-chip power draw has shot up considerably in the last five years, going from 300W to 800W at full load.

But a new way of looking at power infrastructure, called microgrids, paints the picture of turning data centers into ethical prosumers rather than just simple powerhungry buildings.

This applies to both the phone in your pocket and the cloud services you are using today. Cloud services are delivered from data centers, where there have been continuous improvements in the delivery of constant, reliable, and uninterrupted power to swathes of computing devices housed tightly in a building.

This is mostly due to technology we are already familiar with – cloud computing, 5G, the Internet of Things, and so on. These figures barely take into account the rising tidal wave of demand which generative AI is already ushering into the industry.

Grids and power delivery

All this is a direct response to our need as a society for more and more computing and digital services.

Every technological wave has a direct impact on the capacity

Data centers have a power problem now, and they will have a power problem 20 years from now.

Their proliferation means that they have to be a participant in pretty much any wider electrical grid.

To understand what microgrids are, we first need to understand what is meant by a grid. The electrical grid is essentially the network that is required to bring energy from the producers to the consumers. In this, there are four stages: generation, transmission, distribution, and consumption.

The generation stage is represented by the producer – this can be anything from a nuclear power plant to a wind turbine or a

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The operator can program metrics so the facility switches between utility and microgrid to get the best price per kWh solar farm.

The transmission stage is where electricity needs to be sent over long distances and for this, its voltage is raised considerably to minimize losses.

The distribution stage is where electricity is stepped down to levels appropriate for use in the home, office, or enterprise, where it is consumed.

A grid encompasses all these stages, their relevant hardware, and functions.

A microgrid on the other hand, locates all of these assets in very close proximity, on a single site.

Within that site, there is a local power source, such as a solar farm or wind turbine, along with local distribution and local consumption.

The microgrid is connected to the main grid but, because of its tight integration, it can also operate independently.

Depending on the economic conditions or the availability of power, a microgrid can operate entirely on the grid, using a mix of its own resources and the wider grid, or else go off-grid and operate entirely on its own.

If the local power source generates more power than is needed locally, the microgrid can even feed surplus generated capacity back to the larger grid, or as it is sometimes called, the macrogrid.

All data center facilities today have some form of backup power generation onsite. For most it's a diesel generator with an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) that is sized to the facility’s load.

Could this be considered a microgrid? After all, it has all elements of a grid present in

very close proximity, with power generated on-site. It is not considered a microgrid because it is not designed to run all the time: the diesel only runs in an emergency.

But what about more novel onsite power generation approaches?

This is where microgrid technology comes in.

Harmonizing the grid Before we dive deeper into microgrids, we need to understand how and why a grid needs to be “harmonized” in order for it to allow for a smooth, quick, and efficient interchange of electricity across different regions, or even different countries. The harmonization of the grid requires several different mechanisms.

The most important ones represent synchronization – ensuring the system works at the same frequency across its constituent parts – this can be either 50Hz or 60Hz depending on the region. Another important mechanism is voltage and phase balancing – every part of the grid needs to be matched in terms of voltage and phases.

There are other aspects behind the harmonization of the grid, like controllers and switching infrastructure, but these are the most important ones – if a component part is misaligned in voltage, phase, or frequency, electrical energy transfer is difficult or impossible.

Renewable energy sources are desirable because they provide power without creating emissions.

However, most renewable sources carry a challenge when attempting to use them for an application that requires continuous, reliable power – and that is their intermittency.

Wind can blow at high speeds one day, low speeds the next day; the sun shines with varied intensity each day, and not at all during the night. Even hydropower, for most purposes the most stable renewable source, will vary as the ebb and flow of water create different pressure in the reservoir.

Because of this intermittency, it is difficult for renewable energy sources to be directly connected to the wider grid – simply because they would de-harmonize it.

Campuses, business centers, or other sites may install renewable sources as part of a drive towards net-zero. They end up with a mix of uncontrollable sources of energy generation, such as solar, coupled with more controllable sources like fuel cells or cogeneration such as CCHP (combined cooling heat and power), which can be switched on at will.

These sources of electrical energy have to be combined and brought into sync in order to connect to the macrogrid.

Microgrids This is where the need for microgrids comes from. As stated above, a microgrid is essentially a mini version of the main electric grid with all its component parts located in close proximity.

Microgrids are electrical networks designed to remain in operation at all times and they can work proactively. As seen in the diagram, the central piece of technology within a microgrid is represented by the microgrid controller and this can be either a piece of hardware or software.

This controller harmonizes all the electrical loads within the microgrid and further harmonizes them with the macrogrid if needed. The controller also is the mechanism through which utility power is transferred to the microgrid in the event of an outage, or for microgrid power to be activated in a utility outage.

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>> DCD eBook | The future of data center power

Source: Vlad-Gabriel Anghel In microgrids, islanding, or operating independently of the main grid is a near-instantaneous operation ensuring a seamless transition from the macrogrid power to microgrid generation. This goes a level beyond the traditional backup generator found on a data center site. While the backup generator can take up the slack and keep the site up for a time, the microgrid can operate indefinitely in this “island mode.” The switch back to the utility happens in the same seamless way once the utility outage ends.

Another key factor of microgrids is they operate in parallel with the macrogrid and this can enable the owner/operator to program certain metrics into the controller.

For example, if a data center is on a microgrid, and the owner wants to meet an annual average price per kWh target, the microgrid can switch the data center to utility or microgrid power at will, when price fluctuations for utility power drive the per kWh price above that threshold.

Once the surge in pricing has calmed down and values are back to manageable levels the owner/ operator can switch back to utility power.

The same applies to sustainability targets in terms of energy mix and

As with data center infrastructure management (DCIM) inside the data center, the microgrid controller can deliver a plethora of benefits from continuous data gathering, logging, and analytics. Taking it a step further and applying AI to these data sets can lead to a more proactive management of the whole microgrid.

carbon intensity. The controller will leverage the generation resources that best match these targets. If the utility energy mix is mostly driven by coal and the microgrid has, for example, a wind farm on site – the controller would skew the power use to take power from the wind farm whenever it is available, picking the source to achieve the targets.

For example, drawing in local weather data can inform the microgrid controller what wind speeds will occur for the next 72 hours. This will give an estimate of the amount of power that will be generated over this time period, and allow the facility to plan when and how much utility power to use. This will improve the data center facility’s TCO.

From consumer to prosumer

A novel approach to backup

The microgrid controller also brings to the fore the notion of data centers acting as prosumers instead of just huge consumers. With enough generation sources, surplus capacity can be sold back to the macrogrid when it's economically feasible.

Microgrid technology is now mature enough to be adopted by wider industries and data center owners/ operators should consider if such a solution is fit for purpose at their facilities.

Arguably microgrids can deliver a higher level of trust than traditional backup generators which are only fired up when necessary.

Because microgrids are in constant operation, any malfunction or defect is quickly identified and fixed, while the utility power is available to keep the site live.

Many data center outages are caused by latent defects in the classic generator and UPS system emergency backup generation, which only become apparent when they are switched on – precisely at the point when they are vitally needed.

As we already know, the largest chunk of data center outages can be traced back to the loss of power.

This risk is traditionally addressed by generators and UPS systems.

However, as discussed previously, latent defects can and will affect the reliability and availability of the facility’s backup provision.

Microgrids go a step further and act as a more reliable way of avoiding utility outages. Not only that, but they can also provide more benefits like additional energy management tools, cost reduction methods and help with achieving sustainability targets. 

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Escaping the Grid: Data centers tap into the future of onsite power Building data center resilience, predictability, and velocity through alternative onsite power solutions

S

pearheaded by the proliferation of technologies like generative AI, 5G and augmented reality, data center demand across the globe has increased dramatically over the past decade. Unfortunately, so have the power problems that continue to dog facility operators.

According to the Uptime Institute’s 2022 Outage Analysis, 43 percent of outages classified as ‘significant’ are now related to power, with more than 60 percent of these failures – up substantially from 39 percent in 2019 – resulting in at least tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of total losses.

Traditionally, data centers have relied on the grid for easy access to power, but across the globe, ageing infrastructure and the removal of “dirty” generation sources have combined to create a predicament for operators and tenants alike.

The centralized grid took generations to build, but it was not designed to accommodate the exponential increase in demand.

Compounding both the lack of generation and transmission is the fact that extreme weather incidents across many data center locations ensure a higher number of grid failures.

Even the diesel generators the sector has come to rely on in the event of a power failure, aren’t as efficient as they once were, requiring costly maintenance and testing on a regular basis to ensure they’re ready for action when needed.

As a result, forward-thinking operators are increasingly looking to dedicated onsite power generation to create a more reliable, predictable, and sustainable data center.

Through technologies like fuel cells and solar paired with storage, onsite power can provide the 24/7 resilient operation data centers require while

Claire Fletcher DCD

also providing independence from the uncertainties of the traditional grid.

To find out more, DCD spoke to Jeff Barber, VP of data centers at Bloom Energy, to discover how Bloom is approaching data center power demand in today's increasingly digitized, powerhungry world.

“Once upon a time, a 15-kilowatt rack was more than adequate for standard x86 architecture, storage, and switching. Today, with GPU workloads, generative AI and machine learning, that can be in excess of 50 to 100 kilowatts per rack,” says Barber.

Not only does this enormous increase drive up power densities at existing facilities, but it is making it increasingly challenging to scale renewable energy from the grid, creating roadblocks to the sustainability goals now widely adopted across the sector. With

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>> DCD eBook | The future of data center power

many operators, particularly hyperscalers, having pledged to run on 100 percent renewable energy by 2030, current realities make this very difficult to achieve when solely relying on the traditional grid.

In response, data center operators are now recognizing the need for more resilient, lower-carbon solutions to power their always-on mission-critical facilities. That said, in terms of sustainability, there is no silver bullet or one-size-fits-all solution for the power demands

we’re experiencing today, as Barber explains.

"Currently, there is no purely green solution for 50 to 100 megawatts of power that is scalable, reliable, and sustainable. There are absolutely steps the industry can take today, we should and must take them. Deploying lower carbon solutions today pays massive dividends in the future. Forwardthinking customers are taking action now while the world waits for a utopia-like green hydrogen solution,

We are seeing more coalitions of data center competitors, called ‘coopetition,’ that are working together to educate governments and educate local utilities and others of just how much value the data center industry provides > Jeff Barber Bloom Energy

which, in my opinion, is still five to 15 years out,” he says.

So, what can we do?

With its innovative onsite power products, Bloom Energy is helping drive the transition to greener, more reliable power. For example, Bloom's solid oxide fuel cell systems, like the Bloom Energy Server, convert fuel into electricity through an electrochemical reaction, without combustion, and therefore zero harmful pollutants.

Bloom’s fuel cells aren’t limited to traditional fuels. They operate seamlessly with biogas, hydrogen, or a blend of any of these. Bloom enables reliable, flexible, alwayson power from an onsite source, enhancing sustainability, pricing predictability and resilience.

"Hundreds of customers around the globe are leveraging onsite

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fuel cell ‘microgrids’ both with and without a grid connection,” says Barber. “These are typically 25 to 30 percent cleaner than a standard utility, with much higher availability through redundancy and constant monitoring.”

This distributed generation approach also avoids the losses and variability of grid transmission and central power plants, resulting in significantly lower carbon output.

In addition to sustainability benefits, Bloom's fuel cell microgrids offer critical advantages for data center operators. The distributed redundant design ensures highquality, reliable electricity.

Each fuel cell server provides UPS-grade power directly into the facility. With no single point of failure and 100 percent concurrent maintainability, outages are far less likely than with centralized utility feeds. The modular architecture also enables fast deployment and scaling.

Bloom's new Series 10 guarantees at least 10MW of turnkey power shipped in just 50 days. This rapid time-tooperation is critical for data centers where utility connections are often quoted as multiple years out.

"We are in complete control of our manufacturing,” says Barber.

“We have gigawatts of capacity based in the US: Fremont, California, and in Delaware. So, we are able to ship, deploy, and install in as little as two months once the facility is ready.”

Finally, the flexible fuel cell approach easily integrates with higher-density racks and intermittent renewable power sources such as solar. As power needs escalate and generation evolves, Bloom Energy provides a stable bridge to the future of sustainable data center electricity.

Trust and the transition to sustainable power Despite clients now expecting sustainable yet ultra-reliable electricity, systemic change takes time. As promising as new technologies appear, data

Deploying lower carbon solutions today pays massive dividends in the future. Forwardthinking customers are taking action now while the world waits for a utopia-like green hydrogen solution, which, in my opinion, is still five to 15 years out > Jeff Barber Bloom Energy

centers – or anyone operating in a power-hungry, mission-critical environment for that matter – hesitate to adopt them until reliability, economics and scale are proven. True industry-wide collaboration is still limited.

The transition to a more sustainable yet ever-more-powerful data center ecosystem will depend on this spirit of openness and innovation. Technologies like Bloom Energy’s will certainly play a significant role in shaping the future of intelligent, responsive, and environmentally sound data center power. Barber believes that collective action will drive this transition.

“We are seeing more coalitions of data center competitors, called ‘coopetition,’ that are working together to educate governments and educate local utilities and others of just how much value the data center industry provides to our digital lives every day,” he says.

The future of data center power The data center industry's power needs will continue to evolve over the coming years. While more sustainable generation is on the horizon, reliability remains paramount and the transition to fully green sources, such as solar and hydrogen, will be incremental.

These renewable resources can be intermittent, so they must be combined with stable 24/7 power until storage and distribution challenges are resolved.

"From a Bloom product perspective, you will see higher

densities (smaller footprints) in the same form factor, which is important. At Bloom Energy, we don't require you to throw out the previous generation to use the new generation," says Barber.

Meanwhile, software-defined power architectures will enable more dynamic distribution for flexibility and efficiency. This enables optimized power delivery at a granular, rack-level, or even partial rack shifts as demands change.

Adopting these new technologies will take education and collaboration between vendors, operators, and utilities. With the industry's traditionally conservative mindset, proof points and trust in reliability will be key. Bloom has been deploying fuel cells to missioncritical facilities for over a decade now.

“This is not a ‘new’ technology,” says Barber. “It is proven and has been trusted for many years. Bloom brings the manufacturing scale, global support, and economics to the market, making onsite power generation the best viable solution with or without the centralized grid.”

While a completely renewable data center ecosystem may still be years away, incremental steps in that direction continue through new technologies. Bloom's fuel cell microgrids exemplify that progress by balancing sustainability with mission-critical reliability in the interim. Though the ideal all-green data center remains a work in progress, innovations like Bloom's are paving the way to that future. 

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>> DCD eBook | The future of data center power

HVO supply chains: Is there enough to go around?

Dan Swinhoe DCD

Source: Neste

As more operators adopt HVO, are the supply chains ready?

B

iofuels are as old as the diesel engine: Rudolf Diesel designed his engine for petroleum, but ran his first tests in 1893 using peanut oil.

They are only now coming into their own. To reduce carbon emissions, companies are looking to do away with using fossil fuels such as diesel and swapping back to biofuels that are as readily available as their polluting counterparts and on par in terms of performance.

Hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) is a recently-developed lowemission biofuel that promises high performance without the need to replace or customize diesel gen-sets.

Data centers are looking at HVO

as a way to green their backup diesel operations. But are the supply chains for this new biofuel ready to keep the world online if there’s a blackout?

What is HVO? HVO is a synthetic paraffinic diesel, made from vegetable oils or waste, reprocessed with added hydrogen.

Unlike previous biofuels, HVO is a drop-in replacement fuel that can be used without modifications to existing engines.

It offers a similar energy content, density, viscosity, and flash point.

Some studies suggest horsepower in HVO-fueled generators may be reduced by 2-3 percent. It also

performs very well from start-up in cold climates. It can also be blended with diesel, and can be held for much longer without degrading.

Last year Kohler announced that all its mission-critical diesel generators could run on HVO with no modifications. Likewise, Rolls Royce has said its mtu Series 1600 and Series 4000 gensets are also HVO certified.

HVO emits CO2, but most of this was recently captured by plants, so the “net” emissions are much less. Crown Oil reckons 1,000 liters of HVO releases 195kg of net CO2, compared to 3,600kg for the same amount of regular diesel. It also reduces the nitrogen oxide emission by around five percent.

26 | DCD eBook • datacenterdynamics.com

You can mix HVO 100 in any percentage with the existing diesel,” says Coors.

“You don’t have to empty your tank. You can simply top it up. In two, three topups, I will be at full 100 percent HVO 100 > Lex Coors Digital Realty “HVO has a higher stability and lower tendency to oxidize compared to biodiesel, which can lead to fuel degradation over time,” explains Nazmi Atalay, global general manager (Production – R&D) at generator provider AKSA Power Generation. “The stability of HVO is due to the hydrotreating process, which removes impurities and saturates the double bonds in the vegetable oil, resulting in a more stable and uniform fuel.”

Price can be a blocker on adoption; the cost of HVO is currently around 15 percent more than diesel in some markets. But the longer lifespan of HVO – up to 10 years – can offset some of the costs associated with fuel polishing and even scrapping of fuel if microbes gain a foothold in a fuel tank.

“One of the big issues with data centers of course, is that the fuel just sits there forever and a day,” says Simon Lawford, technical sales manager at supplier Crown Oil. “[With HVO] the husbandry of the fuel is a lot simpler and easier. And there's the benefit that you can use it to attract those environmentally conscious clients.”

Lawford notes there’s still confusion with biodiesel, alongside “concern and conservatism” from data center engineers around the performance of HVO. Once companies conduct trials, however, most are happy with the performance.

Who is adopting HVO? UK operators Kao Data, Ark, and Datum, Compass in the US, as well as Belgium's LCL, and Latvia’s DEAC are all looking to adopt HVO as fuel

for their backup generators.

Most haven’t shared exactly how much fuel they are procuring, but Kao said it would be replacing 45,000 liters of diesel, and be procuring more than 750,000 liters when its 35MW Harlow campus is fully developed.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is also switching to HVO in Europe, beginning with its Irish and Swedish facilities. Digital Realty's French unit has adopted HVO for its new PAR8 site in Paris. The company is also deploying HVO in Madrid, Spain, and plans to expand its use across the continent in the near future.

Stack has previously said it was testing HVO on a generator during the 2021 Texas Ice Storm.

It performed well and Stack was deploying HVO at its 8MW TOR01A data center in Toronto, Canada, Equinix is piloting HVO, but its 2022 environmental, social, and governance (ESG) report doesn’t give details beyond the CO2 savings.

Equinix says its HVO generated 30 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (mtCO2e) net, while the equivalent diesel would have generated 40,300 mtCO2e. Using Crown Oil’s 195kg per 1,000 liters benchmark, that comes out at around 150,000 liters of HVO, a fairly significant amount.

Kohler recently swapped diesel for HVO at its Brest generator manufacturing plant in France, totaling some 325,000 liters.

Outside of the data center industry, the transportation, construction, aviation, marine, and off-road equipment sectors are all users of HVO.

Crown Oil’s Lawford tells DCD the HS2 rail system uses HVO in the UK, and the Glastonbury music festival has also been using HVO since 2019.

It is also approved for use in aviation if upgraded to sustainable aviation fuel (SAF.) Is there enough HVO to go around?

If you want HVO, you can get it, but questions remain around whether an operator would be able to ensure ample ongoing refueling supply during prolonged grid outages.

Production is increasing in tandem with supply, but HVO is still a drop in the ocean compared to other fuels. For example, some 2.26 billion liters of renewable fuel were supplied in the UK in 2022, according to government data.

Around seven percent of that is HVO, with biodiesel and bioethanol making up most of the rest.

However, the total amount of renewable fuel is small compared to overall fuel use. Around 30 billion liters of diesel and 18 billion liters of petrol are consumed in the UK each year in total. Those 2.26 billion liters represent around seven percent of total road and nonroad mobile machinery.

“HVO has been quite a hockey stick,” says Crown Oil’s Lawford.

“Back in 2019, there was maybe 5 million liters imported [into the UK] and it's grown pretty exponentially since then, and continues to grow as people switch.”

The feedstock supply is generally good. Some first-generation biofuels are synthesized using oil from purpose-grown produce – palm, sugarcane, soybeans etc.

The treated oil in HVO – known as a second-generation biofuel – is usually sourced from the likes of tall oil [a by-product of wood pulp manufacture], rapeseed oil, waste cooking oil, and animal fats.

Existing biodiesels and HVO use largely the same feedstock, meaning the wider raw materials supply chains for the production of HVO are by and large as secure as the wider biodiesel market. B100, a common biofuel, also often uses

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>> DCD eBook | The future of data center power rapeseed as a feedstock, for example.

Neste is a major producer of HVO and launched its first European refinery in 2007. It has previously told DCD it is actively seeking firms that can supply it with feedstock, including used cooking oil, waste animal fat, and other renewable raw materials. Neste is building a second refinery at Rotterdam. Total, ENI, Cepsa, and Shell are all either producing or building refineries in Europe.

However, some companies DCD spoke to for this article have noted supply chain issues for large orders at short notice.

“There are ongoing supply chain problems with some existing engine suppliers, some companies are in better condition than others in the supply side with well-planned bulk orders,” says AKSA’s Atalay.

we had in place,” says Lex Coors, chief data center technology and engineering officer at Digital Realty.

“And I recommended to our VP of operations of EMEA that I am 100 percent behind it and recommend HVO 100 [100 percent HVO] for all countries.

How a company adopts HVO is largely up to them. Crown Oil’s Lawford says the company always recommends a full lift and shift of existing fuel to HVO, but some clients would rather bleed HVO into the system in stages.

“You can mix HVO 100 in any percentage with the existing diesel,” says Coors. “You don’t have to empty your tank. You can simply top it up.

In two, three top-ups, I will be at full 100 percent HVO 100."

Adopting HVO with a diesel fallback

The fact that HVO can be blended with diesel also means that in an emergency, companies can fall back on diesel in their generators if the HVO supply lines do run dry.

Colo giant Digital Realty has

“I think the supply chain is ready

Bel, said the company was able to swap its Brest plant fairly easily in partnership with Total.

“From the first of January we are at 100 percent with HVO100,” he explains. “We did a large cleaning of all our pipes and fuel tanks and then we put HVO 100 inside.”

Can you get HVO in a pinch?

Given enough lead time and willingness to pay, a company can procure almost any amount of HVO. But the fact that the fuel is there as a backup to power generators during potential blackouts means companies need to be sure of steady supply lines at short notice.

“It's always easy to have one or two sites with tanks filled up,” says Digital’s Coors. “The issue is more in the refuel contracts, where you need to have your follow-up fuel within so many hours if you lose the grid.”

Data centers traditionally rely on two fuel suppliers for redundancy during emergencies. The lack of

Unlike previous biofuels, HVO is a drop-in replacement fuel that can be used without modifications to existing engines

hundreds of facilities worldwide and more than 120 in Europe and Africa.

The company is starting with HVO in Paris, France, and Madrid, Spain, but intends to roll it out continentwide in the future.

“We did the tests. I witnessed the tests to make absolutely sure that the fuel would comply with all the security measures and SLAs that

for it,” says Lawford. “But the crucial point here is that, unlike biodiesel, you're not wedded to HVO. You can switch straight back; so if the world were to end and there was no HVO available, then you can just use diesel.”

In France, Kohler’s product manager for large diesel generators and clean energies, Pierre Adrien

multiple suppliers, combined with a potential shortfall in short-notice fuel deliveries means Digital Realty still has diesel contracts for backup.

“Maybe in two or three years from now there will be multiple HVO 100 suppliers from different factories across Europe, that is the time where we may recommend to our diesel suppliers to go into HVO 100 and stop the fossil fuels,” says Coors.

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However, the availability of HVO may depend on location: “Our lead times for HVO [in the UK] are the same as diesel, two working days, or emergency next day,” says Crown’s Lawford, who began with Neste but now has multiple providers. “Crown Oil has nine tanks around the country filled with HVO and it just feeds into our standard lead time in our standard operations.”

Chicken and egg of HVO supply Europe is currently the largest producer of HVO. Neste has facilities in Rotterdam in the Netherlands and Porvoo in Finland. ENI has HVO production facilities in Venice and Gela and it’s even possible to get HVO at roadside fuel stops in Italy.

In France, Total’s La Mède refinery can produce 500,000 tonnes of HVO-type biofuels per year. In Spain, Cepsa recently converted its La Rábida Energy Park in Huelva to produce HVO. Shell is set to build a new refinery in Rotterdam.

plant in California recently coming online. However, some parts of the country are much further away from production facilities, meaning cost, embedded carbon, and potential logistics issues are greater.

The environmental benefits of adopting HVO may be negated if the fuel has to be transported to a facility thousands of miles away, usually in diesel-fueled trucks.

“For our Brest plant, Total has installed a large local HVO storage so that they are able to supply us at a lower price, next to the facility,” says Kohler’s Bel. But in the US, the company is still working to make the switch: “In California, it will be quite easy to find HVO, whereas, with our plant in Wisconsin, it is more difficult to find. And the cost to transport HVO from California to Wisconsin makes no sense.”

The UK doesn’t produce its own HVO, but can import from Europe and US. The UK last year lifted some EU anti-dumping duties

In China, state-owned energy provider Beijing Sanju Environmental Protection & New Materials launched a large refinery in Shandong province in 2021 – its third in total – and plans more, including in Malaysia.

There are no HVO production plants in Africa, South America, Canada, the Middle East, or Australasia – though plants are set to come online in South America and the Middle East in the coming years.

While much more storage infrastructure is dedicated to other biofuels and/or fossil fuel diesel, more HVO customers could see more storage infrastructure reassigned.

Digital Realty says by "taking as much as you can put it in the tanks" production will inevitably increase alongside demand. “If no one is doing this, then the production will not increase. But [higher demand] will increase the production and increase the confidence by those factories to say there is a need, let’s increase production.”

A stepping stone to fuel cells Kao says one of its MTU 1965kW output diesel generators will consume around 450-500 liters per hour at full load.

Two-hour monthly test runs are standard, resulting in 900- 1,000 liters of mineral diesel producing an average of 3.6 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) per month. A single diesel generator can create around 43 tons of CO2 per year; the equivalent HVO fuel would produce around 2.3 tons per year (net).

US HVO production has grown around 500 percent in the last five to six years, and it's due to double again in the next two years and expected to reach six billion gallons by 2024. In a paper on HVO, Kohler notes Chevron, Phillips 66, Diamond Green Diesel, and Global Clean Energy have all made announcements to increase the capacity of HVO, with a Neste

and countervailing measures on HVO imported from the US. The lift means importing HVO from the US is more feasible in the UK than mainland Europe.

Outside of Europe and the US, Neste has an HVO plant in Singapore, but Shell recently scrapped plans for an HVO plant there.

Compared to a Power Purchase Agreement, on-site renewables, or fuel cells, the CapEx of HVO is low – and it makes use of existing generators.

Digital's Coors sees it as merely a temporary stepping stone towards better fuels and then onto fuel cells and hydrogen: “HVO will be definitely a very good solution for the first five to seven years. By 2030 I expect green hydrogen to become more available.” 

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>> DCD eBook | The future of data center power

When natural gas beats the grid

Seb Moss DCD

We ask Equinix why it is using fuel cells as an alternative to the oncereliable US grid

A

ny casual observer of the growing climate crisis will have realized that the US grid is not what it used to be. California, in particular, has experienced widespread outages and rapid price increases – with electricity costs jumping 7.5 percent in 2020 alone.

"California is a challenging place to buy high voltage electricity," Equinix's senior director of technology innovation David Hall told DCD. "There's obviously been all the wildfires and stuff, a lot of which has brought down PG&E's wires.

So distribution is a problem in California. And then there’s the fact that the generation is antiquated.

The best we can hope for in terms of

generation is a 50-year-old natural gas-fired power station that's 30-40 percent efficient."

This presented a challenge for Equinix's latest Silicon Valley data center, SV11. In a company first, the colocation and interconnection giant decided to use natural gaspowered fuel cells as its primary power source.

Turning to Bloom "It's a great choice in California, at least in the mid-term, to lessen our dependence on those HV supplies," Hall said.

"The fuel cell technologies that we use are solid oxide fuel cells, where you're essentially decomposing cut natural gas into hydrogen. And then that hydrogen is what's producing

your electricity."

In this deployment, Equinix is relying on 20MW of Bloom Energy fuel cells, after using the company's equipment as a backup power system for a few years, and testing it as a primary power source for its test lab ‘Co-Innovation Facility’ in Ashburn.

The idea is far from perfect: Relying on natural gas, the fuel cells are net carbon emitters at a time when the world needs to drastically reduce emissions, lest it face catastrophe. But, Hall argues, it's the best possible alternative for the time being: in California, it's more efficient than the older gas power plants used to run the grid, and in Ashburn, it's better than the coalpowered grid.

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"I don't think you'd see us deploying natural gas fuel cells in the Nordics or somewhere where there's stable access to renewable power," Hall said.

Both Equinix and Bloom contest that the fuel cells also serve as a stepping stone to replacing the fossil fuel gas grid with hydrogen, which – if produced with renewable energy and not natural gas -- is green.

Belgium, the Netherlands, and parts of France and Germany are already working on switching to dedicated hydrogen networks.

Other regions across Europe are considering blending hydrogen into natural gas, reducing some of the emissions (unless, again, that hydrogen is itself made from natural gas, in which case it is worse).

Back in 2021, Bloom deployed its first hydrogen-only fuel cell in South Korea. Its natural gas cells, used by Equinix, can only handle an undisclosed percentage of hydrogen in the natural gas supply before the system becomes unbalanced.

The fuel cell takes in natural gas, passes it into an atmosphere of high-pressure steam, which splits the hydrogen from the natural gas and gives you CO2, water vapor, and hydrogen – with the latter element used to generate electricity.

The process of creating electricity is exothermic, so what the fuel cell does is use the excess heat from that stage to handle the steam reformation. "So it's really efficient," Hall explained.

"But the problem is, as soon as you start increasing the volume of hydrogen in the natural gas supply, that hydrogen can't be used to soak up any heat, as it doesn't need the steam reformation," he said. "The problem the people who build these systems have is that if they want to support a mix of hydrogen and natural gas, they then have to worry about actively cooling the stage where you're producing the electricity.

It sounds crazy, but the trajectory is improved performance from an availability perspective, and improved performance from a sustainability perspective > David Hall Equinix

"So that's one of the challenges of doing it. And obviously, as soon as you do active cooling, you're reducing the efficiency."

It's a difficult middle-stage the fuel cell industry will have to traverse.

If and when the gas grid is fully hydrogen, the first stage can simply be dropped entirely.

"It's a good challenge to have, because as long as the hydrogen that we're using is harvested using renewables that would have been curtailed, then it's essentially free energy," Hall said. "So if you're using two percent of the energy that you generate from this free hydrogen to provide additional cooling for your fuel cell, you could argue it is worth it."

As it stands right now, the gas grid has other advantages, Hall said. "You see much less variability in gas prices." Another advantage is reliability – even if all new gas production ceased, the volume in the pipes already would last months.

"Even in earthquakes and stuff like that, when you do all the modeling in California, you're gonna lose your power before you lose your gas," Hall said.

That said, the site has both an HV connection and a bunch of diesel generators. "If someone digs up the road and disconnects the cables and pipes, then I can still get my diesel fuel to the site," Hall said.

"My ambition in my career is to get rid of diesels, but in the US

we have to have them for now," he added. "In Europe, liquefied petroleum gas is very widely used, so I certainly think if we were going to build a large natural gas fuel cell deployment over there, you'd be tempted just to have stored LPG and not bother with diesel at all."

Also in Europe, Equinix is looking at using lithium-ion batteries to replace the supercapacitors fuel cells use to handle changes in load.

"Imagine a traditional UPS platform," Hall said. "And now you've got some batteries and then you've got some fuel cells and they're all sat on the DC side of the UPS. In that scenario, it's kind of interesting, because then you're essentially using the infrastructure you already have (i.e., UPS) and you're just adding these magic batteries to it, which aren't really batteries, they're fuel cells.

"And that's a really interesting way of doing it, because you can start to build out this quite lowcost infrastructure where you're essentially leveraging batteries to do some peak shaving, and fuel cells for your peaks in load."

Those fuel cells are also more reliable than generators, Hall said.

First, they are solid state, rather than a bunch of spinning components.

Secondly, they're just 60kW a stack, as compared to a 3MW diesel gen – so it's not as big a deal if something fails. The fuel cells are also better at providing information on whether they are starting to fail, he said.

"It's just a different world, it's like the introduction of jet aircraft," Hall added.

"So I have every confidence that the decisions that we're making now, which are driven primarily by sustainability, are actually going to lead us in a few years' time to six nines, and seven nines, and eight nines. It sounds crazy, but the trajectory is improved performance from an availability perspective, and improved performance from a sustainability perspective." 

31 | DCD eBook • datacenterdynamics.com

>> DCD eBook | The future of data center power

>Industry trailblazers

Planet-friendly power solutions...

Internet Initiative Japan Inc. (IIJ) Iceland

Amazon Web Services (AWS) Oregon Amazon is looking to deploy fuel cells at data center sites in Morrow County, Oregon, with the cloud company having applied to power at least three of its Oregon data centers – and potentially up to seven – with natural gas fuel cells. The Bloom Energy cells would provide around 24MW to each of the three data center sites.

Green Energy Partners (GEP) Virginia GEP, a US data center and energy developer, plans to use nuclear reactors to power 30 new data centers in Virginia and provide Virginia with green hydrogen for data center backup.

The company has proposed 30 new data centers on land next to the 1.6GW Surry Nuclear Power Plant in southeastern Virginia.

While building the new facilities, GEP plans to also build multiple small modular nuclear reactors, which will power green hydrogen production plants, enabling Virginia to expand its data centers beyond the highly developed Loudoun County area.

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Japan’s Internet Initiative Japan Inc. (IIJ) has installed a micro data center (MDC) at a hydroelectric power station in Iceland. The micro data center is the first of its kind in Iceland and runs on 100 percent renewable energy.

In April 2023, IIJ announced plans for a data center trial project in Iceland in partnership with national power company Landsvirkjun, which until March 2024 will see IIJ install an MDC at Landsvirkjun's Írafoss hydropower station in Sogið in southern Iceland.

...from all corners of the world

Microsoft Dublin After applying in December to build a gas power plant for its €900 million Dublin data center campus which is in development at Grange Castle, the application has now been approved. The plant is expected to cost €100 million, and will be used every day to provide power for the data center, as well as supporting it if it has to be taken off Ireland's strained national grid.

The ‘unprecedentedly large-scale" plant will sit alongside 21 backup diesel generators on the site, in an effort to reduce the facility's impact on the grid.

Japan Renewable Energy Corporation (JRE) Japan

GreenSquareDC Perth Australian data center firm GreenSquareDC is leasing a large tract of land in Western Australia on which it plans to develop a wind and solar park. The company announced it has entered into a long-term ground lease over 3,100 hectares of land at Billericay Road in East Hyden, Western Australia. On the land, the company aims to establish a 150MW wind and solar farm to power its upcoming 96MW data center, with the view to run its WAi1 facility using renewable power 24/7.

33 | DCD eBook • datacenterdynamics.com

Japan Renewable Energy Corporation’s (JRE) entirely solarpowered data center is now operating smoothly after launching operations in December 2022. The data center, built on the grounds of JRE’s solar power plant in the Nagano prefecture of Japan, is the first of its kind for JRE and will be home to distributed cloud computing solutions providers Morgenrot Inc. JRE’s Nagano Omachi Solar Power Plant has an installed capacity of 2,443kW, and a planned annual output of 3,500,000kWh.

>> DCD eBook | The future of data center power

Finally, a nuclear powered data center?

Peter Judge DCD

We’ve heard talk of nuclearpowered facilities for some years. Could the time have arrived?

D

ata centers are facing an energy crunch. They want to expand massively, while moving towards net-zero emissions. They need low-carbon electricity, and that’s not always available.

In Hong Kong, for instance, there simply isn’t enough renewable energy for the state, let alone proposed new data centers.

Meanwhile in Ireland, there’s a limited amount of green power. If data centers guzzle it all, there’s not enough left to decarbonize sectors like heating and transport, and the

country misses its overall net-zero target.

Nuclear positives Nuclear power could be part of the answer. It produces little or no greenhouse gas emissions, and could potentially deliver energy wherever it is needed.

More importantly, compared with truly renewable sources such as solar and wind energy, nuclear power delivers a steady dependable base load which doesn’t rely on the sun shining or the wind blowing.

That’s exactly the kind of power data centers need.

In the past, nuclear power has suffered from poor delivery, with giant projects lumbering on amidst huge delays and cost over-runs, while environmental groups campaign vocally against them.

Nuclear states in Europe, like France and Belgium, have succeeded in having nuclear energy classified as a clean technology, because it delivers steady base load electricity, without making greenhouse gas emissions.

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However, those countries with existing nuclear power have a problem. As older plants come to the end of their life, governments are unwilling to commit to giant nuclear projects that may or may not succeed.

The alternative seems to be a different way to do nuclear, known as small modular reactors (SMRs).

These are intended to overcome the past drawbacks of giant nuclear projects: they are a manageable size, and are built from pre-approved designs, with components made in factories.

In principle, they could be delivered quickly and repeatably.

Permitting could be done once, for the design, which can be delivered to multiple places. Components can then be shipped from the factories for construction on-site.

And since their power capacities are smaller than the older giant plants, they could be commissioned for individual projects, or anchored by data center customers.

Nuclear upgrades The UK is one of the strongest backers of SMRs, with plans to spend up to £20 billion over 20 years, developing a fleet of power plants that could cover up to a quarter of the country's electricity consumption.

Rolls-Royce is one of the leaders, with SMRs that are at 470MW, at the top end of the range of “small” plants. Rolls-Royce plans to install 16 of its SMR generators in the UK. Meanwhile, with Government encouragement, a range of other potential builders are lining up.

US-based developer Last Energy has announced a deal to sell 24 small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) to UK customers.

Last is planning pressurized water reactors (PWRs) each of which will deliver 20MW of power each, and cost $100 million (£78m.)

Other SMR companies pitching to build in the UK include Newcleo, a London-based startup that has announced plans to raise £900 million to build small lead-cooled

The first SMR reactors will be installed on existing nuclear sites, where the infrastructure and permitting is already in place – and where there may soon be vacancies as older reactors shut down fast reactors. Other firms pitching for money include GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy, GMET Nuclear, Holtec Britain, UK Atomics, and a partnership between Cavendish Nuclear and X-Energy.

already in place – and where there may soon be vacancies.

Meanwhile, in the US, NuScale is the front runner, with the Voygr system, which has received government support in the form of $4.2 billion in subsidies, and now has approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for deployment in the US.

Those sites already have permissions for nuclear plants, and all the apparatus to transfer the energy into the grid, and the local population have come to appreciate the jobs and energy they provide.

NuScale has published more information than some of the other systems, and earlier this year got some negative publicity. The company had promised to deliver power at $55 per MWh, which made it a good long-term bet against other forms of energy. As details of the system have emerged, the expected cost has crept up to $90 per MWh, even when backed by further funding from the Inflation Reduction Act, the US program which includes measures to promote a transition to low-carbon power.

That’s more expensive than renewable sources such as solar and wind – although nuclear does provide a reliable, continuous energy supply.

The older generations of nuclear power plants have been running for years. Some are coming to the end of their life.

Rolls-Royce is starting the ball rolling with a decommissioned nuclear plant in Trawsfynydd in Wales, which could hold two 470MW systems.

In Canada, Ontario Power Generation (OPG) is building up to four new SMRs in Darlington, Ontario where it currently has four forty-year-old CANDU reactors being refurbished.

OPG’s new SMRs are GEH's BWRX-300 models coming from GE Hitachi and they are due to start delivering power in 2028. They may actually provide power to data centers, as OPG has signed a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Microsoft, most of which will be fulfilled by wind and solar – but nuclear may enter the mix if it arrives in time.

First nuclear data center?

Moving in If nuclear continues to look like a valuable option, there’s a problem: with strong memories of Chernobyl and Fukushima, who wants a nuclear power station in their backyard?

It seems likely that the first SMR reactors will be installed on existing nuclear sites, where the infrastructure and permitting is

The US has seen the first explicit plan for nuclear-powered data centers – albeit one which won’t come to fruition for more than ten years.

Green Energy Partners (GEP) believes it has found the perfect location: an existing nuclear facility in Virginia run by the Virginia power utility Dominion, close to a hub where a massive expansion

35 | DCD eBook • datacenterdynamics.com

>> DCD eBook | The future of data center power Surry County could be the perfect location: an existing nuclear facility in Virginia, close to a hub where a massive expansion in data center capacity is straining the grid Surry Nuclear Power Plant, Source: Dominion Power

in data center capacity is straining the ability of the grid to provide any kind of energy – let alone clean power.

Westinghouse built two 800MW pressurized water reactors 50 years ago in Surry County, on the James River, near Jamestown.

The company planned two more PWRs on the site, but they haven’t arrived, though the original reactors have had their licenses renewed to continue till 2052.

Surry is around 200 miles from the Northern Virginia data center hub where Loudoun County in particular is bursting at the seams, with data centers consuming around 20 percent of available power, and new builds frequently delayed by power distribution issues.

It’s on the route to the Virginia Beach cable landing station, so potentially a good place to tap national and international Internet traffic – especially given its potential for clean power.

GEP has bought 641 acres of land next to the site and has proposed a lot of data centers there, which will eventually be powered by new SMRs, with green hydrogen for backup power.

Starting in 2024, the developer has plans to build 30 new data centers on the site (totaling 1 gigawatt), which it has dubbed the Surry Green Energy Center (SGEC.) These will initially be powered by the available grid power, but since the site is next door to Surry, the data centers will actually get nuclear power from day one, GEP COO Mark Andrews told DCD.

“The project is a 1-gigawatt hyper-scale data center campus primarily powered by conventional nuclear out the door, so to speak,” said Andrews.

Using revenue from the data centers, GEP plans to develop onsite nuclear power with up to six 250MW SMRs.

running on approximately 10-15 percent hydrogen [for backup], fully convertible to 100 percent hydrogen within the next three to five years.”

When the SMRs are built, they will provide the primary power and conventional nuclear power will become the secondary power source for backup if more than one SMR goes off-line.

With stringent permitting required, it could take 10 to 15 years for the SMR power to start flowing, GEP's VP of strategic development Bill Puckett told Virginia Business.

The company is planning 35 acres of the SMRs, alongside 20 acres of hydrogen production.

Nuclear plus hydrogen?

The SMR vendor is not yet determined, he explained: “We have just begun the next phase, whereby, we are now having discussions with various SMR and hydrogen manufacturing companies. As of this time we have not committed to any specific SMR partner."

GEP plans to also produce green hydrogen on-site, using a combined system it calls a "green energy machine" or GEM. There is actually a lot of synergy between nuclear and hydrogen.

Pressurized water reactors use water heated well above boiling point, and can provide waste hot water above 400F. The most efficient electrolysis uses very hot water or steam, so the green hydrogen production plant would effectively use the SMRs’ waste heat as well as some of their zero-carbon electricity.

Some of the hydrogen produced can be blended with natural gas and shipped by existing pipelines outside the site, but a lot can be used on-site for generator backup at the data centers.

“As I am sure you are aware data centers require redundancy,” Andrews told us. “Therefore, we have designed the project to utilize natural gas/hydrogen generators

“We have just recently completed the feasibility study period and have gone hard on the Property,” said Andrews.

However, GEP’s releases say it has been working with the Department of Energy's Idaho National Laboratory, which is also partnering with the US SMR firm NuScale whose Voygr design is built from 50MW modules.

Interestingly, NuScale is already working on a combined nuclear and green hydrogen system with Shell.

Andrews’ reticence may be partly because of the previouslymentioned setbacks at NuScale, whose projected power cost has recently increased, making its energy potentially less competitive.

Alternatively, it seems there are simply a range of possible partners available for nuclear pioneers. 

36 | DCD eBook • datacenterdynamics.com

Q

Q&A Q&A

Jeff Barber, Bloom Energy

Jeff Barber Bloom Energy

DCD talks time to power, changing times and product innovation with Jeff Barber, VP, global data center sales at Bloom Energy

When it comes to delivering power, in terms of client priorities, how important is speed/time to power?

The speed of deployment is paramount for data center operators.

Essentially, they are in the business of providing access to high-quality, highly available power to the tenants’ IT infrastructure. The competition to sign new tenants is fierce, so the ability to provide adequate power for the tenant workload faster than the competition is the number one differentiator for operators.

Whether in emerging regions with generation and transmission challenges or breathing new life into existing facilities attempting to satisfy ever-increasing rack densities, time to power for the developer/ operator is synonymous with the tenants’ “time to market.” There is a significant ROI associated with signing tenants sooner and with those tenants getting their “product” to market more quickly.

The ability to supplement existing grid connections is crucial as well.

The multi-year delays associated with utility requests do not just apply to greenfield developments; it is just as critical to upgrade or “boost” existing facilities as server, storage and network infrastructure increases performance (and therefore power demands.) The proliferation of ML/AI workloads is a dramatic example of how quickly the tenants’ needs can change; the operator must respond or risk losing customers without the ability to attract new ones.

Have you seen client priorities change over the last five years, and if so, in what way/s? What do they expect today?

Absolutely! The changes span several categories: Time to power related to transmission and generation, increasing compute demand from the tenants and increasing content generated at “the Edge.”

Five years ago, requesting a utility connection was a simple matter,

and typically, that power could be delivered in a similar timeframe as the building construction. Those days are gone and will most likely not return for decades (if ever.) It is critical to remember the centralized utility systems took generations to build.

Today, we are faced with aging infrastructure, and coupled with the increased compute demand from workloads like AI and ML, much of the time it is not capable of delivering the tens or hundreds of megawatts data centers require. In other words, we have a transmission issue. Coupling this fact with everincreasing regulatory requirements and the decommissioning of “dirty” generation technology, you have a perfect storm of delays for the operator.

Routinely, the estimate for new transmission to large sites is quoted as 10+ years. This is not a viable timeline for the developer/operator as it is 8+ years longer than the tenants’ typical planning horizon.

37 | DCD eBook • datacenterdynamics.com

>> DCD eBook | The future of data center power In the past, delivery of power could face delays due to certain aspects of construction work that would need to be undertaken prior and even the weather, sometimes taking 9-12 months of preparation. What did that process consist of?

In the past, the delivery of onsite power generation faced longer installation times due to various construction-related tasks that were prerequisites for the installation of energy systems like fuel cells.

Construction crews first needed to verify and mark the locations of underground utilities, ensuring their protection during the construction process. Demolition and removal of existing hardscape, such as pavements or structures, were essential to clear the designated installation area. Subsequently, crews undertook the rough-in and testing of utility hook-ups, confirming that connections for power, water, and other utilities were correctly established.

Following the piping and wiring onsite, was the installation of the power plant equipment, which often involved a concrete pad, serving as the foundation upon which the power delivery equipment, like fuel cells, would be securely positioned.

With the concrete pad in place, the intricate process of moving and installing each individual piece of equipment onto the pads and making connection was initiated.

This was a highly precise operation, taking many weeks to complete and commission.

Following the physical installation of the power delivery equipment, the next phase was to integrate the power delivery equipment onto the common busway, and then connecting that busway to the facility. When dealing with tens of MW’s of power, this process obviously takes time and incredible attention to detail.

Finally, the installation process involved thorough testing and verification to guarantee the functionality of all components.

Bloom has been monitoring every cell and subcomponent in those cells for 10+ years, which allows us to perform an incredible amount of analysis.

Predictive analysis enables Bloom to refine the design and manufacture constantly. No other technology can compete with this level of experience and scale > Jeff Barber Bloom Energy The complexity of the construction tasks, the precision required for individual pieces of equipment for installation/integration coupled with the typical construction delays such as permitting and weather resulted in significantly long installation times.

What changes has Bloom made to the installation process to help quicken time to power?

Bloom has essentially eliminated the concept of individual equipment installation with its electricity generation product, the Energy Server, by installing it on pre-wired and prefabricated skids at the factory.

This packaged Energy Server consists of inverters, fuel processing and the fuel cell modules that convert fuel into power, all on a single reinforced skid.

This skid contains pre-packaged and tested connectivity for each device, eliminating the need for individual installation, simplifying utility and building connections down to only two: “Fuel in and power out."

Bloom factory integration means the skid lands onsite ready for service on day 1. The skid is reinforced, essentially creating a self-contained foundation for the servers, eliminating the need to pour concrete and trench conduit.

Simple and inexpensive compacted gravel is more than adequate. Each skid delivers ~330 kW of UPS quality power to the facility. These skids are installed on a common busway aggregating to tens or hundreds of megawatts.

Aside from reducing installation times and improving quality, these skids are easily moved from site to site or to different areas within the same site-delivering power when and where needed. Each skid contains only two connections, making them simple to disconnect and move when needed.

From a business perspective, this simplified approach mitigates costs related to installation variables.

The fixed dimensions of each skid means a standardized and predictable installation. Previously, site construction constituted approximately 60 percent of installation costs. Additionally, the skid approach simplifies deinstallation at the end of lease term, if desired.

How about changes to the fuel cell technology/product itself?

The Bloom Energy Server has been commercially available for 10+ years now. We have a consistent track record of increasing output, reducing footprint and decreasing cost. In addition, the current fuel cell is 60 percent efficient. This means we are converting more of the molecules (input) to electrons (output). This efficiency is roughly 25-30 percent better than combustion technologies, translating to lower fuel costs per Megawatt and zero particulates (NOX/ SOX.) This history of constant improvement is possible in part because Bloom has been monitoring every cell and sub-component in those fuel cells for

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Our modular nature enables simple scaling up or down with predictable costs for years. This is a capability that a centralized utility simply cannot achieve > Jeff Barber Bloom Energy 10+ years, which allows us to perform an incredible amount of analysis.

Predictive analysis enables Bloom to refine the design and manufacture constantly. No other technology can compete with this level of experience and scale.

One of the most important attributes of the Bloom product is our ability to accept diverse fuel sources such as hydrogen, natural gas, biogas, or a blend of these fuels. Bloom is a hydrogen fuel cell today, meaning we separate the hydrogen from the carbon with a steam reformation process inside the system, typically using natural gas as the input. The reason for using natural gas is simple: green hydrogen distribution and production do not exist at scale.

Certainly not at data center scale.

Natural gas is abundant, reliable and affordable, making it the perfect bridging solution to a zero-carbon future. This also means that an investment in the Bloom Energy Server and Bloom Microgrid products are future proof for the customer.

Moving to a pure hydrogen platform when feasible is an onsite upgrade to the Energy Server, conducted during a normal maintenance cycle.

Bloom’s solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) platform is flexible with both fuel inputs and energy output, hydrogen ready and reliable with 99.998 percent reliability across the global installed base. This is all possible only because of our market experience, data collection/analysis, and scale.

An essential capability of the energy server is the flexible design. It can function independently from the grid

or supplement existing utility power.

The design is modular and redundant across all aspects, with concurrent maintainability being core to the product. The ability to provide a much lower carbon solution, with or without utility, translates to the customer being able to provide power where and when necessary, within months versus years.

Some clients may want to rapidly scale up their power supply, perhaps some want to do the opposite, or maybe some just need increased power for a short period of time. How does Bloom navigate these different client requirements?

Bloom has been working very hard to streamline processes and, therefore adapt to the developer and tenant requirements. Our Series 10 offering is the perfect example of that flexibility. Delivering power within months versus years, predictable flat pricing for five years, installation included, no upfront capital. This addresses the need for bridging power perfectly. At the end of the term, Bloom picks up the equipment and utility takes over the power delivery.

Outside of Series 10, Bloom can accommodate multiple Power Purchase Agreement terms or managed services. As we know, tenants’ move-in schedules are not overnight. Bloom and our finance partners can accommodate a tiered power delivery for up to 12 months.

This means that as the tenant rolls in racks and begins their integration, Bloom can increase output to meet the new installation demand.

Installing thousands of racks is not an overnight process; it can take many months to install, integrate, test and commission. As an example, a 60 MW critical facility is not “instantly on.” Bloom can land capacity, complete Integrated System Testing (commissioning), and then simply shut off most of the power modules while tenant move-in commences.

We can simply turn on the modules as the demand arrives. This can even be done remotely.

These fuel cells are completely modular. The nature of our pre-tested skid installation means they can be delivered or moved easily, with a very fast installation process. All factory tested and ready to produce the electrons required. The bottom line is our modular nature enables simple scaling up or down with predictable costs for years. This is a capability that a centralized utility simply cannot achieve.

Finally, are there any other innovations or ideas on the horizon for Bloom in terms of this need for speed?

Absolutely. The market will continue to see innovation and simplification from Bloom. This translates to simplified financial vehicles, increasing densities and more dynamic installation options.

As far as the new product is concerned, we are very excited to have recently announced our ability to work as part of a Combined Heat and Power (CHP) system. The electrochemical process of our fuel cells drives the internal temperatures of our system to ~800°C. This process is contained in highly insulated and robust Power Modules as part of the Energy Server system.

The heat from these Power Modules can be captured at over 300°C and used for various industrial processes.

With the use of absorption chillers, data centers can realistically reduce mechanical power demand by 80percent+. This translates to millions in savings for the tenants and provides a significant competitive advantage to the developer/operator.

In those areas requiring heat capture, this becomes a truly elegant solution for district heating or other uses. 

For more

information about the Bloom Energy Server, Bloom Microgrid or CHP options, please see Bloomenergy.com

39 | DCD eBook • datacenterdynamics.com

Series 10

Changing the Way Data Centers Buy Power.

10

50

Power

Shipment

MW

Day

5

Year Term

99.99% Availability

9.9 ₡ /kWh

Zero

Flat Rate as low as

Maintenance Costs

Introducing Series 10, a revolutionary new energy offering.

While other power solutions are intermittent and/or degrade over time, the Series 10 was designed to ensure 10 W of guaranteed, always-on power at a flat rate with no upfront payment and no maintenance costs.

Series 10 enables rapid shipment with an industry leading 5-year term.5 Protect your business from planned and unplanned outages and gain ultimate control of your power.

Take Charge of Your Energy

Eliminate Your Outage Risk

Advance Your Sustainability Targets

Lock in predictable energy costs and consistent power quality with Bloom’s scalable energy platform

Protect your facilities against outages and weather-related grid disruptions with sustainable, resilient power

Accelerate toward a zero carbon tomorrow with Bloom’s future-proof and fuel flexible energy platform

bloomenergy.com

Learn More