Mission Critical Power - October 2016 by The Energyst

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ISSUE 7: October 2016

Electrical storm: Fuses may well have a future in the pursuit of uptime

Positive outlook: Can battery storage fill a looming capacity gap?

IoT demands: A new approach to capacity planning is needed

When power goes off your business goes on www.fgwilson.com

IN THIS ISSUE

Energy Storage

Infrastructure

Costs are falling but batteries are still expensive. Bankable revenues are hard to come by but others believe they are already commercially viable

We take a look behind the scenes at Panduitâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new global R&D headquarters in Illinois

06 News Equinix completes ÂŁ26m London data centre expansion

10 Viewpoint Ian Bitterlin comments on electrical protection in the data centre. Old-fashioned fuses may prove to have a future in the pursuit of uptime

missioncriticalpower.uk

ISSUE 7: October 2016

Electrical storm: Fuses may well have a future in the pursuit of uptime

Positive outlook: Can battery storage fill a looming capacity gap?

IoT demands: A new approach to capacity planning is needed

Insight In what has been claimed to be the largest battery project of its type, Tesla is backing up the grid in California When power goes off your business goes on

www.fgwilson.com

Power Distribution

Cover Story

It is clear that IoT is going to have a major impact on data centre power infrastructure but how do we manage these consequences?

FG Wilson on cost, flexibility and responsiveness from diesel generator sets

Comment

Energy Storage

Utility Connections

News

UPS

CHP

Insight

Cooling & Air Movement

Products

Security

Q&A

Viewpoint

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October 2016 MCP

COMMENT

A cloud on the horizon? More and more critical sites are using the cloud for their IT capabilities – whether it is healthcare, industry or banking. Yet there are still concerns about security. In fact, according to the BT CIO report 2016, 49% have security concerns about using the cloud. However, is this actually the case?

Without high vigilance on behalf of the in house IT teams an enterprise solution provides the perception of secure control rather than actually being so

A survey by Tripwire suggests that in the energy sector 72% of IT professionals are confident of detecting a cyber attck yet 52% admit that their automated tools did not pick up the necessary information to quickly identify an attack in progress. Tim Erlin, director of IT security and risk strategist for Tripwire, comments that “while dedicated security staff are intimately familiar with the deployed capabilities and gaps, IT at large is often working on assumptions of protection.” The cloud is an accepted part of most businesses and the trend is only expected to increase. Your cloud provider needs to be able to answer competently on all security matters to get your trust but then is the status quo of in-house any safer?

Any site with critical infrastructure is naturally wary about losing control of mission critical equipment through IT breaches but there is little evidence to suggest that having an enterprise solution (onsite) is any better. A big cause of data theft occurs through employees, and the cloud is actually better in this regard. The potentially malevolent employee will find it is harder to locate particular data in the cloud. They are also physically removed from where the data is stored, preventing personal relationships with those who can access the data contributing to a breach. Another issue is that security is what a cloud provider must sell. Without this they won’t be around in the market for very long. They have to adhere to standards and are independently audited. The fact is that IT security is their business and many data breaches occur when the data is stored in-house. Without high vigilance on behalf of the in-house IT teams an enterprise solution provides the perception of secure control rather than actually being so.

Editor Tim McManan-Smith tim@energystmedia.com t: 020 3714 4450 m: 07818 545308 Contributing editor Brendan Coyne brendan@energystmedia.com m: 07557 109 724 Circulation enquiries circulation@energystmedia.com

MCP October 2016

Advertising manager Harry Powell harry@energystmedia.com t: 020 3751 7863 m: 07557 109476 Sales director Steve Swaine steve@energystmedia.com t: 020 3714 4451 m: 07818 574300 Production Paul Lindsell production@energystmedia.com m: 07790 434813

Energyst Media Ltd, PO BOX 420, Reigate, Surrey RH2 2DU Registered in England & Wales – 8667229 Registered at Stationers Hall – ISSN 0964 8321 Printed by Warners Midlands PLC No part of this publication may be reproduced without the written permission of the publishers. The opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the publishers. Mission Critical Power is a controlled circulation magazine available to selected professionals interested in energy, who fall within the publishers terms of control. For those outside of these terms, annual subscriptions is £60 including postage in the UK. For all subscriptions outside the UK the annual subscription is £120 including postage.

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NEWS & COMMENT

Who needs an EFR contract? Somerset solar site installs ‘grid scale’ storage unit Tesla’s commercial scale battery storage units are being installed at a ground-mounted solar PV site in Somerset. The company managing the project, Camborne Energy Storage, claims the installation is the first of its scale in Europe using the Tesla Powerpack. The 500kWh installation will enable the solar operator to provide more varied grid balancing services to National Grid and increase the revenue streams available to it. The news comes as a survey of more than 200 public and private sector organisations found that roughly half were investigating energy storage, including batteries. Within the industrial and commercial sector, that rose to almost six in 10. Combining batteries with other assets enables firms to unlock greater value. Aggregator and energy supplier Limejump, for example, combines batteries with solar PV to provide

The Somerset installation is a European first for Tesla frequency response services to National Grid. “Because of the raw flexibility in the battery, it can do whatever you tell it to do – anytime granular speed of response,” says Limejump CEO Erik Nygard. Combining batteries with other assets, such as those used for demand-side response, also enables operators to extract value that can be greater than the sum of its parts, according to Kiwi Power CEO Yoav Zingher. Zingher thinks that combining batteries and DSR

will bring down costs by enabling much smaller batteries to be used. “You can make do with a battery with a shorter duration as well,” he says. “Instead of building a battery that can deliver an hour’s worth of response, you can use a battery that delivers only 10 minutes of response and provide the rest with DSR, which can’t deliver response so quickly. So we think if you design the market well enough you can get more benefit from both.”

National Grid’s first enhanced frequency response (EFR) tender recently awarded 201MW of contracts to seven firms, the vast majority of which will be provided using batteries. However, the tender left more than 1GW of potential storage capacity without a contract. Some market participants believe there is a risk that interest may disappear without clear routes to market from the system operator. However, announcements such as Camborne’s, as well as data that indicates battery storage projects can deliver paybacks in under five years, suggest that the National Infrastructure Commission’s assertion that investors are “queueing up to invest in subsidy free storage” may not be wide of the mark. In the meantime, Tesla’s head of UK battery sales has warned firms not to “underestimate the speed of change”.

60% of firms taking action post-Esos Six in 10 firms that completed an Esos assessment have taken action, according to initial survey data compiled by Mission Critical Power’s sister publication The Energyst. But few of them want energy efficiency advice from energy suppliers or TPIs. According to the survey, 61% of organisations mandated to undertake an energy audit under the Energy Savings Obligation Scheme (Esos) said they had taken subsequent actions. A similar percentage (60%) said the Esos exercise had been worthwhile, although 40% said it was not. Some 64% said that their Esos audit had been thorough and suggested multiple energy efficiency improvements. However, despite Esos requiring directors to sign off the audit, around six in 10 (58%) said board level engagement in energy efficiency had not increased as a result. We are still seeking end-user views on Esos – and the effectiveness of energy efficiency regulations in general – as part of a forthcoming report sponsored by Eon (go to surveymonkey.co.uk/r/mcpmag). While the sample remains small (73 complete surveys to date, of which 39 undertook the Esos assessment), the early findings provide a snapshot of the state of energy efficiency within both large and small organisations.

MCP October 2016

The data also suggests end-users place greater faith in independent consultants and industry associations/ non-profit bodies than energy suppliers or third party intermediaries (TPI) when it comes to energy efficiency advice. Only 3% of respondents said they would prefer to receive that advice from a TPI, and only 13% want it from an energy supplier. That compares with 46% who would like any energy efficiency advice to come from an independent consultant and 56% who would prefer it to come from an association or non-commercial organisation. (Total percentages do not reach 100% due to multiple-choice answers.) Meanwhile, it appears suppliers have been more proactive than TPIs in engaging end-users. Only 12% of respondents said their TPI had engaged them regarding energy efficiency services versus 26% of respondents with whom energy suppliers have engaged. Overall, 62% of respondents said they had been engaged by neither their energy supplier nor TPI regarding energy efficiency. All those that complete the survey will receive a free copy of the subsequent report and an invitation to a free London breakfast briefing.

missioncriticalpower.uk

7 Six in 10 I&C firms considering storage Almost six in 10 industrial and commercial (I&C) firms are considering investment in energy storage, according to a survey by Mission Critical Power’s sister publication The Energyst. Across all sectors, the demand-side response survey polled just over 200 people. There were 106 complete responses from the I&C sector. Of those, 58% said they were considering investment, or have invested, in forms of energy storage, including batteries. In the public sector (51 complete responses),

By 2040, National Grid has predicted that up to 18GW of energy storage will be online 45% said they were considering investment or have invested in energy storage. The findings come as National Grid steps up its

demand-side response push while building a new route to market for battery storage. The system operator has procured 201MW of sub-second enhanced frequency response (EFR), the vast majority of which will be delivered by batteries. By 2040, National Grid has predicted that up to 18GW of energy storage will be online (although its scenarios range from 3.6GW to 18.3GW). Meanwhile, it predicts that battery storage costs will halve in the next three years.

UK loses 11.4GW of coal and gas capacity in three years The UK lost 11.4GW of coal and gas generation capacity in the three years to end of 2015, latest government data shows. Some 8.8GW of coal-fired plant came off the transmission system, alongside 2.6GW of gas. However, in the same period, around 3.5GW of renewable generation was connected to the transmission system (almost 1GW of onshore wind, around 1.3GW offshore wind and 1.25GW of bioenergy).

Meanwhile, more than 10.3GW of net new capacity was installed on the distribution network: some 2.3GW of onshore wind; around 0.8GW of offshore wind; 0.8GW of bioenergy; and 7.4GW in solar PV since end of 2012. According to the DUKES figures, total UK solar PV capacity at the end of 2015 stood at 9.2GW, an increase of 3.8GW, or 69%, on 2014. While cuts to subsidies have

pared back subsequent PV growth rates, National Grid predicts solar PV capacity will hit 12GW by next summer, requiring greater system flexibility. DUKES data confirms that there are now more than 800,000 solar PV installations in the UK, which suggests a significant opportunity for battery storage growth should prices continue to fall in line with estimates.

Equinix completes £26m London data centre expansion Equinix has completed the second phase expansion of its LD6 London data centre. The £26m investment adds 1,385 cabinets, bringing the total operational capacity of the data centre to 2,770 cabinets. This company said the expansion was also an indicator of its commitment to the UK, where demand for data centres and colocation services in the cloud, enterprise and financial missioncriticalpower.uk

services sectors continue to grow. “As one of the most pivotal connection points in the world, London continues to play a

significant role in facilitating the flow of data that supports the digital economy,” said UK managing director Russell Poole. “With the completion of the second phase of LD6, Equinix will bring to market more opportunity for interconnection to connect companies to their customers, employees and partners and to ultimately accelerate their business performance.”

Trinity Mirror to earn up to £1m from DSR Trinity Mirror Group hopes to earn between £800,000 and £1m from demand-side response (DSR) this financial year. The firm’s calculations are based on hitting all three winter Triad periods and delivering full output when called upon within the short-term operating reserve (STOR) programme and Transitional Arrangement (TA) capacity market. Speaking at Energyst Media’s DSR Event, Garry Crask, Trinity Mirror Group’s production engineering manager, said the media group hoped to earn between £400k-£500k from its DSR activities at its Watford site, with similar revenues from its Oldham facility. The sites combined have around 11MW back-up generation. Crask told delegates, mainly other end-user organisations, that participating in DSR had not been straightforward. Export MPANS had to be registered, the firm had to obtain export acceptance from UK Power Networks, its G59/2 relay had to be replaced and a PPA company to invoice for exported electricity had to be found along with better generator service contractors, according to Crask. Meanwhile, ahead of participation, the firm realised its generator control gear, installed with the diesel units in 1999 ahead of the millennium bug scare, could not be relied upon, so were upgraded at a cost of around £100,000. “We were going to have to upgrade it at some point anyway, STOR or no STOR,” said Crask, “so the revenue made it far easier to justify.” The firm later upgraded its cooling systems after finding the generators could not deliver maximum output in the summer months due to overheating. The firm is now evaluating battery storage as a means to deliver balancing services to National Grid, said Crask. October 2016 MCP

INSIGHT

Tesla to build world’s largest lithium-ion storage facility In what has been claimed to be the largest battery project of its type, Tesla is backing up the grid in southern California with lithium-ion batteries. Is storage coming of age in both cost terms and its ability for quick deployment? The Tesla Powerpack system will reduce the need for electricity generated by natural gas

esla has been selected to provide a 20 MW/80 MWh Powerpack system at electricity provider Southern California Edison’s Mira Loma substation in the Los Angeles basin. Upon completion, this system will be the largest lithium-ion battery storage project in the world. When fully charged, this system will hold enough energy to power more than 2,500 households for a day or charge 1,000 Tesla vehicles. Demand for storage Last October, a catastrophic rupture in the Aliso Canyon natural gas reservoir caused a methane gas spill that displaced more than 8,000 Californians and released an unprecedented 725,000kg of methane into the atmosphere. Today, the Aliso Canyon leak is considered the worst in US history, with aggregate greenhouse gas emissions said to outweigh those of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

MCP October 2016

Following the disaster, authorities closed the Aliso Canyon facility, which had been feeding the network of natural gas peaker plants in the Los Angeles basin, deeming it unfit to store the fuel safely and environmentally. One year later, Los Angeles is still in need of an electric energy solution that ensures reliability during peak times. As winter approaches, homes and buildings in the basin will need more natural gas for heat. These demands apply uncharacteristically high pressure to the energy system, exposing the Los Angeles basin to a heightened risk of rolling blackouts.

2500

Number of households the system will be able to power for a day when fully charged

Following the leak, California governor Jerry Brown issued a state of emergency, and in May, the California Public Utilities Commission mandated an accelerated procurement for energy storage. Southern California Edison, among other utilities, was directed to solicit a utility-scale storage solution that could be operational by 31 December, 2016. Unlike traditional electric generators, batteries can be deployed quickly at scale and do not require any water or gas pipelines. Mass production The crucial factor in the deal is the speed with which the technology can be deployed. Tesla’s giant Gigafactory in Nevada is able to produce at a large scale, which will allow this system to be manufactured, shipped, installed and commissioned in three months. The system will charge

using electricity from the grid during off-peak hours and then deliver electricity during peak hours to help maintain the reliable operation of Southern California Edison’s electrical infrastructure, which feeds more than 15 million residents. By doing so, the Tesla Powerpack system will reduce the need for electricity generated by natural gas and further the advancement of a resilient and modern grid. In order to achieve a sustainable energy future, one which has high penetration of solar and electric vehicles, the world needs a two-way, flexible electric grid. Tesla commented that “the electric power industry is the last great industry which has not seen the revolutionary effects of storage. Working in close collaboration with Southern California Edison, the Tesla Powerpack system will be a landmark project that heralds the new age of storage on the electric grid.” l missioncriticalpower.uk

VIEWPOINT

A perfect electrical storm? The interaction of various components, performance characteristics and fault events may force us to reconsider electrical protection in the data centre. The result may suggest that fuses, long considered old-fashioned in data centre power distribution, may prove to have a future in the pursuit of uptime, says Ian Bitterlin

n the simplest scenario we could have one critical load connected to one power supply. If that load suffers an internal short-circuit then the electrical protection system disconnects the entire load (eg in 0.1 seconds) to limit physical damage and danger to human life. However, the problem we are considering here is if several critical loads are connected to one power distribution point (eg a power-strip) and only one of the loads suffers a short-circuit and we want to disconnect it and leave all the healthy loads in service. We need to review: • What length of time of voltage loss can the load ride-through? • What happens to voltage during a short-circuit? • How is the load disconnected and how quickly? • Are there safety implications of fast, or slow, disconnection? The answers to these questions are important to the ‘survival’ of the remaining healthy loads. In this context the term ‘survival’ means that the function of the microprocessor is not disrupted in any way MCP October 2016

and each critical load has the ability to ride-through voltage events using its on-board energy storage. Ride-through capability The first part of our story begins in 1978 and concerns the ride-through ability of a microprocessor during a loss of supply voltage when the IEEE Industrial & Commercial Power Systems Conference introduced the first version of the CEBMA Curve (Computer Business Equipment Manufacturers Association). This illustrated the voltage and time window for ‘acceptable’ operation and the key piece of information was the ride-through time at zerovolts of 10ms. Nothing much happened for five years until the Federal Information Processing Standard 94 (FIPS 94), which included the CEBMA curve. Then the IEEE Working Group developed IEEE Std.1100 – 1992, ‘Powering & Grounding Sensitive Electronic Equipment’. While being an ANSI standard this was still the only reference point for the whole world and it continued to be 120V/60Hz

with 10ms zero-volts. In 1996, the Power Electronics Application Center of the Electrical Power Research Institute announced the results of work of the ESC-3 WG of the Information Technology Industry Council (ITIC, formerly CEBMA) on testing susceptibility for personal computers. The result was a revision in 1999 of the ITIC/ CEBMA Curve in IEEE Std.1100. This revision increased the zero-voltage immunity from 10ms to 20ms. Again, in Europe, we embraced the 20ms without worrying about the V/Hz details. By 2007, many pundits were openly questioning the 1999 ITIC curve and suggesting the true ride-through of servers was much longer than 20ms. However, when the ‘change’ came in 2013, one server OEM let-slip that its current range of servers would not meet the 20ms specification if fully loaded but would still meet the 10ms limit. They also said that when not fully loaded they could achieve more. The reason given was that in pursuit of energy efficiency input capacitor

had shrunk in – affecting energy storage and losses. The announcement of this retrograde step in ride-through capability by one OEM did not produce the anticipated reaction from the server competitors/ community since they were all in same boat in pursuit of energy star ratings. The latest chapter in this ‘ride-through’ story is now being written by The Green Grid and its Power Working Group, with the preliminary results being varied and surprising. While we will have to wait for the full picture, the trend for some hardware is not ‘longer’ but ‘shorter’ and not entirely related to load, with a zero-voltage ride-through of only 6ms being a possibility in individual cases. So, for our purposes here, we will assume that latest ridethrough is less than 10ms and more than 6ms at 100% power supply load. Short-circuit effects Servers use single-phase switched-mode power supplies and so the most usual shortcircuit event is a single-phase missioncriticalpower.uk

11 to ground/earth. The ground/ earth conductor provides a very low resistance path between the voltage source and the ground/ earth point. The instantaneous response (<5ms) response to the short-circuit is that the current rises dramatically and the voltage collapses close to zero. How high the current reaches depends upon the impedance of the source and the impedance of the circuit from the source, the arc resistance and back to the ground/earth connection. Feeding energy into this ground/earth fault path is the source whose peak current under a short-circuit condition at its output terminal connections is dependent upon its ‘impedance’ or ‘sub-transient reactance’. A typical commercial distribution transformer will have an impedance of 6-10% and will therefore be capable of producing 17-10 times fullload current for the first few milliseconds, during which time the voltage will have collapsed. The closer the load is to the energy source the higher will be the short-circuit current. So, do we need high or low fault current? That depends upon the time in which we want to disconnect the load. In commercial systems, the designer usually chooses to set the protection devices to disconnect the load in 0.1 seconds and that is possible with three to five times rated current with an automatic circuit breaker set to ‘instantaneous’. Speed of disconnection Our data centre problem is simple and yet quite unique in electrical services designs. When a short-circuit happens the voltage collapses and the other (healthy) loads can only continue to operate for <10ms. For me, this part of our tale began in the very early 1990s when working with rotary UPS. They have low impedance (typically 13-20x rated current) and can rupture large fuses without recourse to the utility, unlike static UPS, and so it became usual for all rotary UPS OEMs to make a show of fuseblowing at works witness tests. missioncriticalpower.uk

If we want to achieve fast disconnection during an individual load shortcircuit then we need to maximise the fault current at the individual protective device and that will be best provisioned by a fuse rather than an automatic circuit breaker

But why fuses? Who uses fuses in data centres and why not use circuit breakers? Well, fuses are much faster. In about 1992, tests were carried out at the Falcon Laboratory in Loughborough between 3x400A fuses and a 400A moulded case circuit breaker with 50kA of shortcircuit current. 400A is a large fuse/breaker to disconnect but is representative of a floormounted PDU supporting 250kW of load. The test measured the total clearance time of the devices, from the instant of the short-circuit current commencing to when the load was disconnected (arc quenched) and the voltage was restored to normal. The result was not surprising given the simplicity of the fuse compared with the current sensing time and electro-mechanical time constant of the MCCB: • Fuses cleared in a total time of 8ms • MCCB set to ‘instantaneous’ trip cleared in 17ms Clearly 17ms is too long a time for the voltage to collapse if we are trying to restore the voltage in <10ms. It is also clear that trying to protect loads from a single server failure is best achieved by protecting it by a fuse that is as physically close to the load as is possible and with an amp rating as low as is possible. Safety-related impacts In the pursuit of fast disconnection, we can see that minimising the resistance of the power system distribution path maximises the prospective fault current. In a growing number of markets the issue of ‘arc-flash’ has become a safety issue and the level of fault current drives the severity of the incident. Arc-flash is a high energy event propagated by a shortcircuit fault. The short-circuit current ionizes the air between two conductors and the effect is akin to an explosion with gases, heat, light, shock-wave, shrapnel and vaporised copper. The injuries sustained by an arc-flash event include severe burns, temporary blindness,

hearing loss, lung damage and barotrauma. However, arcflash PPE is only capable of protecting the person to ‘just survivable second degree burns’ so in no way must the use of PPE be regarded as a first-step in a safe working practice, rather a last-step. The arc-flash risk is measured in calories/cm2 at a calculated boundary and the disconnection time is key to the result. For example, if we take a LV switchboard with a peak fault current of 65kA having a short-circuit in a switch with a technician 450mm away from the root of the short-circuit. The calculation of three values of disconnection times (for fuse and circuit breaker) shows the advantage of speed: • 0.19s (a ‘min’ setting in a circuit breaker) results in a boundary of 3,100mm and energy of 20 cal/cm2. This would require Class 3 PPE which includes cotton underwear, flame resistant shirt, trousers and overalls, hood and mask, and gloves. • 0.05s results in a boundary of 1,075mm and energy of 5.3 Cal/cm2 and would require Class 2 PPE. • 0.01s (easily achieved by a fuse) results in an arc-flash boundary of 360mm and incident energy of 1.1 cal/cm2 requiring Class 1 PPE. It is obvious fuse protection reduces the severity of arc-flash. Conclusions The zero-voltage ride-through capability of ICT hardware is falling below 10ms. If we want to achieve fast disconnection during an individual load short-circuit then we need to maximise the fault current at the individual protective device and that will be best provisioned by a fuse rather than an automatic circuit breaker. The application of fuses will also reduce the severity of arc-flash. The change to fuse protection would be a major event in data centre power system design. l Ian Bitterlin is a consulting engineer and visiting professor at Leeds University October 2016 MCP

INFRASTRUCTURE

A centre of excellence We take a look behind the scenes at Panduit’s new global R&D headquarters in Illinois, US. Words by Robert Dennelly, director of business development at Panduit’s Data Center Business Unit and Tim McManan-Smith Panduit’s state-of-theart R&D facility houses the industry’s most advanced fibre lab

he Jack E Caveney Innovation Center in the Chicago-area suburb of Tinley Park comprises 1,672 sq m of laboratory space and accommodates more than 70 members of Panduit’s research and development team. The centre is named after the founder of Panduit and will carry on his legacy for innovation that began more than 60 years ago. Included in the complex are a copper transmission lab, a fibre optics lab, an anechoic chamber, a complete data centre thermal lab and an industrial automation lab, where the company visualises, tests and develops converged solutions designed to benefit IT migration onto the factory floor. Panduit has a long-term MCP October 2016

commitment to R&D and solution innovation, spending 10% of net data centre revenue on R&D activities. The corporate R&D centre operates 20-plus state-of-the-art labs and is responsible for more than 1,100 patents. Focus on innovation The centre works in step with corporate business units and in the manufacture of the final product that is delivered to the customer. The centre’s focus is on innovation rather than the application of current products. Panduit CEO Tom Donovan comments: “The R&D centres aims to accelerate the design cycle, simplify the implmentation cycle and optimise operation that improve total cots of ownership.”

Much of the work that goes on at the centre in research is at the university level and contributes to the forward movement of technology and to standards established by the likes of TIA, ANSI, RoHS and IEEE. Recent industry achievements include a technical paper award for ‘Characterization of Modal Dependence of MMF Chromatic Dispersion for Wideband MMF’ from the 64th IWCS International Cable & Connectivity Symposium.

1100

The number of patents from Panduit’s R&D facility

Panduit gains in-depth knowledge of the customer’s business and datacentre challenges to develop solutions that add value and are a catalyst for business growth. The company looks at how its customers are applying products in their applications to understand the implications on performance of today’s technologies to create opportunities for next generation products. These innovations are then brought to market through a network of global manufacturing facilities located close to customers. The demands for innovation are high. Donovan says that “data centre power densities have increased 10 times in the last 10 years. Continuous monitoring of parameters missioncriticalpower.uk

15 allows us to recapture capacity, improve uptime and increase overall operational efficiency.” Key areas of R&D For today’s large and complex data centre’s that are operating converged applications, Panduit’s R&D organisation is focused on: l Fibre cabling: With the increase deployment of Software Defined Networks (SDN), ‘Spine & Leaf’ data centre architectures, and Cisco’s ACI network platform, the bandwidth and latency requirements associated with the data centre fibre plant becoming more advanced and the cabling links are increasing in distance. To enable cabling links between the core switching and edge switching of an SDN architecture, Panduit is investing heavily in fibre cable and connectivity for multi-mode solutions. Panduit is studying different ways to increase the bandwidth and link distances for multi-mode fibre. This includes innovation in modulated signals, wave division multiplexing, and bi-direction optics to extend bandwidth from 10G to 40/100/200/400G and beyond over extended link distances. A recent example in fibre development is Panduit’s Signature Core Fibre Optic Cabling System. Investments in research began more than 10 years ago to extend the reach of multimode fibre. Multimode fibre can now be used in applications where single-mode fibre would have been used. For example, several rows of servers may be located very far from the Main Distribution Area (MDA), beyond the 150m reach of conventional 40/100 GbE systems. In one such application, more than 400 multimode fibre optic ports were implemented using the Signature Core Fibre Optic Cabling System, resulting in a savings of more than $280,000. l Copper cabling: For cabling links between the edge ‘top-ofrack’ switching and in-cabinet missioncriticalpower.uk

servers for SDN architectures, Panduit is developing a cost effective shielded copper cabling systems to exceed Category 8 standards and provide 40G transmission rates up to link distances of 30m. l Thermal: As data centres continue to converge applications and consolidate, Panduit sees an ever-increasing need to study thermal management practices within data centres. To be an industry leader in innovation, Panduit’s R&D department has invested in a thermal lab consisting of 149 sq m of configurable data centre white space, with 640kW of IT load and cooling capacity and raised floor, overhead, wall, or roll-level cooling methods, that is fully instrumented for temperature, pressure, power and airflow. With this thermal lab, Panduit is able to conduct state-of-theart CFD and airflow analysis for IT-equipment, cabinets and containment systems to enable optimal cooling management within a data centre. “The thermal lab is designed to replicate real-world power and cooling challenges experienced in all types of data centres,” says Andy Stroede, senior vice-president, research and development. “We are constantly working on innovative solutions that will increase data centre efficiency, such as environmental sensing, cooling control schemes and thermal management devices.”

People aren’t looking for speeds and so on but can you solve my business problem?

Panduit’s thermal lab is designed to replicate real-world power and cooling challenges experienced in all types of data centres

l Software, IoT and integrated data analytics: Panduit is investing in the development of software systems to monitor, manage and automate the operational efficiency of cooling, power, asset, physical security and intelligent cabling management. These investments will facilitate the convergence of IT and facilities in the data centre space to optimise operations. Marc Naese senior vicepresident, data centre business, suggests that the key to improving energy efficiency is: “Do I really know real-time what is happening in my room? For instance, we could have racks of 8kW but cool them to that effect but often it’s not factored in that they are only using 3kW.” IoT and data analytics are increasing the data traffic within a data centre. These technologies are also being embraced by Panduit to enhance its DCIM offering. The company invests R&D resources on wired and wireless IoT sensor devices to add more intelligence to the day-to-day operations of a data centre. Such IoT devices include temperature, humidity, water/ smoke detection, door access, and remote cameras. Panduit is working on nextgeneration DCIM solutions that will integrate advanced IoT intelligence devices with enriched data analytic tools to deliver positive business outcomes. Once research is proven in the lab, it is perfected by product engineers armed with the latest 3D CAD programs and perfected with stereolithography (SLA) additive manufacturing technology. Panduit makes more than 15,000 of these printed objects each year. From R&D to the manufacturing of its 9,000-plus products, Panduit is committed to innovation and in making investments to deliver technology to drive business outcomes for its customers. As Donovan says: “People aren’t looking for speeds and so on but can you solve my business problem?” l panduit.com October 2016 MCP

POWER STORAGE

Making a virtual power plant Yuasa lithium-ion batteries have been used in a successful trial to evaluate the concept of office virtual power plants. Working with energy management company Kiwi Power, consultant Swanbarton and Riello (UK), Yuasa LIM batteries were installed in an IT standard 19inch rack with the same floor loading as a filing cabinet

ninterruptible power supplies have become an essential, although largely invisible, element of IT infrastructure. The reliability and efficiency of UPS systems have improved consistently during the past 30 years but the fundamental services, of power quality and continuity have remained the same. The current thrust for de-carbonisation of electricity networks presents new challenges and opportunities for the UPS industry. Intermittent renewables, such as wind and solar, provided 14.2% of UK electricity in 2015. Global experience indicates that electricity network instability requires some form of balancing facilities once the share reaches 20%. National Grid is expanding ancillary service contracts to achieve this. New plants for Short Term Operating Reserve, and Frequency Response services are proliferating, together with TRIAD contracts, which will see many large consumers operating their diesel back-up generators this winter. Organisations must be able control power flows of many megawatts to provide services to National Grid. For example, electricity storage is recognised as the only viable technology for the new Enhanced Frequency Response market, it will be provided by dedicated grid connected batteries charging or discharging at 20-50MW. An alternative resource could be the 4GW of stored power embodied in the UPS already installed in UK. To participate in this new business MCP October 2016

opportunity UPS will need to be re-powered with deep cycling batteries and be able to work as an aggregated array to provide the required scale. Energy management company Kiwi Power and consultant Swanbarton were funded by Innovate UK to evaluate the concept of office Virtual Power Plant (VPP) in 2015. Yuasa Battery was selected as the system supplier working in partnership with Riello (UK). Since January 2016 a system has been operating in Kiwi Powerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s London office supporting up to 20 staff with power in the range from 5-12kW. Because of the high energy density of the Yuasa lithium-ion batteries a 25kWh system could be mounted in a first floor office, in a 19inch rack with the same floor loading as a filing cabinet. The UPS is a standard MCM20NP model manufactured by Riello. Additional commands were added to itsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; firmware to provide VPP operating modes; } Discharge mode â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Office load is removed from mains supply and supported by battery } Hold mode â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Office load is supplied from mains and the battery remains in static state of charge } Charge mode â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Office load is supplied from mains while the battery is recharged at a programmable rate The normal UPS mode is restored immediately in any event of mains failure, to support the office load. The choice of operating mode is made by a Micro Grid

Sense ESS at Kiwiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s offices

95%

The load that can be recovered by lithium-ion, compared with 80% efficiency for lead acid batteries

Storage Manager (MGSM) developed by Swanbarton. This collects information on the National Grid status, battery state, local load and aggregated load conditions. Peter Stevenson, senior technical co-ordinator at Yuasa Battery Europe, says: â&#x20AC;&#x153;The system has been operating seamlessly to vary the demand of Kiwiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s office, as a virtual power plant, in a way which is transparent to office operations. By using off-theshelf and highly developed UPS hardware Kiwi and Swanbarton have been able to focus on the key commercial aspects of how to capture the rapidly growing revenue opportunities for energy storage. With the right App in place your UPS can become a bank account for energy trading as well as an insurance policy against power failure. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Yuasa lithium-ion products are ideally suited to energy storage applications. They are based on robust lithium metal oxide chemistry with premium cycle life and high power capability. This allows them to capture surplus power whenever it is available and to supply the load very efficiently. â&#x20AC;&#x153;More than 95% of the charging energy can be recovered by the load, compared with 80% efficiency for lead acid batteries. The battery can provide many thousands of deep discharges and never needs to be fully charged. Yuasa supplies lithium-ion products in many formats including plug-and-play cabinets ready for immediate connection to your UPS.â&#x20AC;? l yuasaeurope.com

missioncriticalpower.uk

POWER STORAGE

Battery storage: Positive outlook? Costs are falling but batteries are still expensive. Bankable revenues are hard to come by and developers want more routes to market. But others believe they are already commercially viable. Brendan Coyne reports

nergy storage is seen as the answer to balancing intermittent generation. Batteries are particularly valuable to National Grid because they offer sub second frequency response. Costs are falling and investors and developers appear to have significant appetite. National Grid has created a market and the first enhanced frequency response tender was massively oversubscribed. More than 1.3GW prequalified for 200MW on offer. A degree of that appetite was from solar developers, which have seen their markets pummelled by subsidy cuts. Batteries and solar PV are also highly complementary technologies. But batteries as still very expensive and most of those missioncriticalpower.uk

prospectors find themselves without an EFR contract. Market participants have called on National Grid to outline a route to market to maintain momentum. “It would be a shame if that interest disappeared, because it is hard to regain momentum,” says SmartestEnergy’s Robert Owens. “Over the last nine months we have gone from

hardly anyone talking to us about batteries to a pipeline of 800MW-1000MW. In such a short space of time that is virtually unheard of.” Currently, cost versus bankable revenue is a market barrier both for businesses and investors. They have to work out how to stack revenue streams and take on a degree of risk. But some market participants

believe batteries are a viable opportunity today, with or without an EFR contract, due to the flexibility they can both provide and unlock. Unlock other assets Most market participants see batteries and demandside response (DSR) as complimentary technologies. “Because of the raw flexibility »

Combining a battery with DSR or generator means we can unlock a lot more flexibility from those asset types. An asset that I cannot turn on or off very frequently does not have much value on its own. But putting a battery alongside that asset allows me to create a new product to unleash value October 2016 MCP

POWER STORAGE

Robert Owens: “Positive momentum must be maintained”

Erik Nygard: “Combining batteries with DSR can unlock more revenue streams”

Shorter odds Kiwi Power CEO Yoav Zingher thinks that combining batteries and DSR will bring down costs by enabling much smaller batteries to be used. “You can make do with a battery with a shorter duration as well,” he says. “Instead of building a battery that can deliver an hour’s worth of response, you can use a battery that delivers only 10 minutes of response and provide the rest with DSR, which can’t deliver response so quickly. So we think if you design the market well enough you can get more benefit from both.” Zingher thinks there will be a “huge amount” of battery storage deployed as prices fall. Restore co-CEO Pieter-Jan Mermans agrees that batteries are a “huge opportunity” for DSR – and not just for the commercial and industrial

market. Restore, he says, will ultimately move into the B2C sector, with batteries likely to play a key role. “We operate in Germany, where more than 10,000 batteries have been installed, with the primary purpose of installing solar electricity. People are looking at how to wrap them up into a 50MW block to offer to the TSO (transmission system operator) ,” he says. “From our point of view, that is exactly the same question as aggregating 50 pumps or compressors. So that is where the complementary aspect sits. Battery operators will need DSR technology and software and vice versa.” Chris Kimmett, commercial manager at Open Energi, says some firm frequency response (FFR) providers are looking into battery storage because of the complimentary nature to fast response services. He thinks behind-the-meter applications face little in the way of regulatory barriers and will work if asset owners can make the business case stack up. “I think the price has come down to the point where it is starting to make sense to buy batteries,” he says. But Kimmett also points out that the Brexit vote and subsequent fall in Sterling has pushed prices back up by around 10%. Despite that, he says it is “still an interesting place to invest”. Sam Scuilli, regional director, international sales at Enernoc, agrees that it is “not too soon” to start looking at batteries. Like fellow aggregator Restore,

Eamonn Boland: “Batteries are in direct competition to DSR”

Alastair Martin: “Batteries have their place but a market correction is coming”

in the battery, it can do whatever you tell it to do – anytime granular speed of response,” says Limejump CEO Erik Nygard. “Combining a battery with DSR or generator means we can unlock a lot more flexibility from those asset types. An asset that I cannot turn on or off very frequently does not have much value on its own. But putting a battery alongside that asset allows me to create a new product to unleash value, because they are now working together to deliver something much more proficient to National Grid.” Nygard says Limejump currently uses batteries alongside solar PV to provide frequency response services, amongst other revenue streams.

MCP October 2016

Yoav Zingher: “Combining DSR and batteries can reduce set up costs”

Enernoc is active in Germany and agrees that the rapid deployment of batteries is because they are “perfectly suited” to some of the ancillary services within that market. But he says they are just one tool for National Grid. “It all comes down to economics. Batteries are specifically well suited to fast response. But if you have got a major capacity shortfall, there is probably not enough batteries that are going to help with that,” says Scuilli. “That is where you need the broader capacity market or the whole Triad structure, which is designed to shift significant amounts of load.” Market correction Flexitricity chief strategy officer Alastair Martin agrees batteries “will find their niche”. But he thinks there will be a lot of disappointed developers. “There has been a lot of noise and a massive rush – far in excess of what the EFR tender aims to stimulate. We are going to see a correction as a result,” says Martin. “We have double-digit gigawatts of batteries in the planning and the connections application systems, the majority backed by people who believe that there is a frequency response contract waiting for them. But there isn’t a double-digit requirement for frequency response. It doesn’t exist,” he says. “So we are going to see a correction in that market. After that, the lithium type batteries are going to find their niche and perhaps after that we might see other battery technologies Simon Wilson: “Being able to be flexible and respond to market changes matters”

Pieter-Jan Mermans: “Battery operators will need DSR technology and software, and vice versa” coming forward which will pursue a different niche.” Baringa Partners manager Eamonn Boland thinks batteries have a bright future – but he sees them as cannibalistic to DSR rather than complementary. “Batteries and DSR are in direct competition. If I were an investor I would see that the DSR market today offers a price of X. But I am seeing quite a large interest and volume of new entrant batteries coming into the market that can do exactly what I can do, be built at scale,” says Boland. That will put pressure on prices in frequency response markets, he believes. “You can easily get to a point where that X value drops quite significantly, quite quickly. So you have a degree of uncertainty over revenue because of the competition coming from high volumes of batteries that are expected to come into the market.” Batteries will start to spill out from FFR markets and into lower value markets as their prices fall, Boland believes, enabling new business models to emerge. But for now, he says it is difficult for investors to place sizeable volumes of capital into development because of revenue uncertainty. “You are confident that there is a need for flexibility and there is quite a high value to the response times of batteries. But some people see the breadth of revenues they could provide as revenue diversification and others see it as compounded risk,” says Boland. “So I think that is interesting for batteries.” Sam Scuilli: “If you have a major capacity shortfall, batteries aren’t going to cut it”

missioncriticalpower.uk

Sponsored column

Chris Kimmett: “Brexit vote has pushed battery prices up 10% ‘almost overnight’”

Origami Energy took part in the EFR auction. Simon Wilson, the firm’s storage lead engineer, says the mere fact National Grid has created a market is breaking down barriers. Even if the company does not secure an EFR contract this time around, he thinks that having the auction values will be useful information for investors in storage projects. Ahead of the auction results, Wilson believes there are improvements that could be made for the next tender. As things stand, the market favours larger developers, he suggests: The bid bond per megawatt was increased from £2k to £5k midway through the process. “We are a small provider and that was a hassle factor,” he says. Because the EFR service was essentially being developed on the hoof, technical parameters also emerged as the process progressed, says Wilson. The requirement for a double circuit connection became a single connection, while “overly complex” ramp rates and duration requirements were also fluid. Wilson thinks that the duration requirement of 15 minutes in either direction was more than the service needs, leading to costs being “slightly greater than necessary”. But he points out that it is an iterative process and is optimistic that technical parameters will be more concrete for the next tender round. Overall, Wilson thinks the level of interest in EFR will lead to a “tight economic case”, because the four-year contract length has struck a balance between security of investment Richard King: “What is the cost of loss of power? If you know that cost, you can monetise it” missioncriticalpower.uk

and keeping options open to National Grid – at least this time around. But he also thinks that locking providers into EFR is a missed opportunity. “You can do multiple things with your site, but if you are contracted for EFR, you must do it, so you can’t switch to a merchant model. If there was a price spike for example, you can’t then use your storage to meet that,” he says. “The problem with energy storage is that you generally have to knit together a few revenue streams. So being able to be flexible and respond to market changes matters.” Business case “It is not a small investment decision”, but the business case for battery storage already stacks up, according to Richard King, of energy management engineering firm Powerstar. King says peak shaving for DUoS and Triad combined with frequency response revenues are in some cases secondary to the value of an onsite UPS “to cover the ‘microcuts’ we are increasingly seeing on the system”. Combining the three elements makes a commercially viable proposition, he says, but early investors in the I&C sector are likely to be those who understand the value of lost load to their business. “What is the cost of loss of power? If you know that cost, you can monetise it – and it can be worth a great deal. If you are part of a supply chain, you may face very punitive penalties,” says King. “Everybody has critical systems that they cannot do without,” he adds. “The ability to respond to a power shutdown within 20 milliseconds is very valuable – as are cutting network costs and generating income from frequency response.” l This article forms part of The Energyst’s 2016 demand-side response report, published in conjunction with the DSR Event. Download it at theenergyst.com

Power system flexibility for future UK energy needs

Peter Jones, Technology Strategy Manager, ABB Power Grids division The UK’s power industry is entering a period of dramatic change, as we shift away from the traditional ‘top-down’ model of power generation, transmission and distribution to one where generation resources are widely distributed, increasingly intermittent and counted in the thousands rather than the hundreds. This shift will demand previously unheard of levels of system flexibility in order to allow both demand and supply to flex in response to changes in power generation and consumption. The recently published ‘Smart Power’ report from the Infrastructure Commission sets out the challenges – and opportunities – facing the UK power industry very well. The report highlights the three key areas in which the UK needs to innovate over the coming decades in order to take full advantage of what it calls the smart power revolution: interconnection, storage and demand flexibility. When it comes to demand flexibility, a whole raft of sophisticated energy management solutions are coming on stream that will help enterprise and residential consumers optimise their electricity usage in ways that both

reduce overall costs and balance supply and demand. Traditionally, power network operators have had the flexibility to balance supply and demand mostly through controlling the output of large, centralised generation resources in real time. As we make the shift towards a far greater number of smaller, distributed generation resources, with a far greater proportion of renewable energy sources, balancing supply and demand becomes a much more complex challenge. The future power network may well be a collection of thousands of semi-autonomous micro- and nano-grids, featuring a mixture of renewable and non-renewable energy sources and energy storage systems in a variety of forms, complemented by multiple interconnects to other power grids. This will demand sophisticated management systems to control and dispatch the multiple energy resources at regional and local levels. However, for ABB, this is not a futuristic possibility but a development of field-proven technology solutions that we have already deployed in dozens of installations around the world over the past 15 years. ABB is already delivering stabilisation, automation and intelligent control solutions that manage renewable energy generation in microgrids, ensuring utility-grade power quality and grid stability.

UPS

Powering the future Mark Trolley, managing director at leading uninterruptible power supply specialist Power Control, takes a look at how Brexit is affecting the industry and its customers

espite the rather glum outlook that is predicted for Brexit, it is important to remember that the economy will eventually calm down, and while we wait for this stability the overriding message is to remain vigilant. Expenditure must be meticulously considered where understanding total cost of ownership (TCO) becomes essential, especially when making capital investments. Experts predicted that there would be a marked slowdown in purchasing, as buyers would want to wait to see how the markets would react before making any significant investments. While they may have been right for many, we have been lucky enough to sustain our high enquiry rate. That’s not to say we haven’t noticed a change in customers buying habits. Investment solutions Customers are being much more tentative and considered when it comes to making financial decisions, which has meant that we have had to adapt our own policies. To provide customers with added support and peace of mind, we now offer a wide range of investment solutions that cover up to 100% of the complete project. This includes all equipment, batteries, delivery, installation and commissioning. Furthermore, the company has also recently released a wide range of rental programmes. Power Control is able to offer rental agreements that include supply, installation and commissioning. “Discussions about intelligent investment and rental opportunities began long before the first rumblings

MCP October 2016

The HUAWEI UPS5000-E (40-480kVA) – a scaleable solution

of Brexit but since its confirmation, many clients are opting for these solutions. To keep our offerings relevant our financing solutions are based around turning a company’s power protection from an intensive capital spend into a flexible operating resource. The solutions we offer are designed to be every bit as agile and lean as our client’s business, allowing each of them to scale their requirements as required without compromising on the peace of mind a resilient power protection setup can afford. An everyday essential UPS systems are commodity items and where once the industry placed these essential pieces of equipment on a pedestal, we have been quick to realise that UPS systems are in fact an everyday essential. All credible UPS brands will deliver reliable emergency power. It is how these systems are deployed that differentiates them from one another. Of course, discussions still need to be had around the type of technology and how suited each option is for a business. The looming uncertainties suggest that clients will lean towards modular solutions as these deliver a very practical scalable approach, which allow the user to grow their UPS provision as the business grows. Take the modular UPS solutions from Huawei as an example. These are at the very top of the class of modular UPS design. They deliver exceptional quality in terms

We now offer a wide range of investment solutions that cover up to 100% of the complete project

of resilience and efficiency. Huawei has taken the modular concept one step further and introduced a new line of micro data centres. These follow the ethos of ‘a data centre for a room rather than a room for data centre’. It makes sense for those that want something that can be easily erected and maintained without costly civil works. We anticipate a very rapid uptake in these solutions over the coming months. While a modular approach may seem popular – offering a smaller footprint, greater flexibility, easy manageability, inherently greater availability and scalability – it may be surprising to learn that there is still a significant demand for traditional solid-state UPS. Efficiency a priority The continued interest and success of these solutions in the market place can be attributed to the ongoing investments made by manufacturers such as Borri to achieve leading efficiency. With energy prices reaching a nine-year high this summer, efficiency remains a top priority. Our understanding of the complete electrical path means that we do not consider UPS systems in isolation. We look at every associated component to ensure that the entire environment is fit for purpose. While some things can’t be guaranteed – like a long-term stable economy – we can be certain that our approach gives clients confidence in the power protection strategies that they deploy. We don’t believe that Brexit will have any real effect on our industry. At the end of the day all businesses need to have an emergency power provision. l pcl-ups.com missioncriticalpower.uk

UPS

Drive for lithium-ion batteries Despite their technical characteristics, lithium-ion batteries have long been considered too expensive for use in backup power supplies for data centres, but decreasing costs driven by the electric car industry make their use increasingly attractive when considering the total cost of ownership over a system’s lifetime

evelopments in lithiumion battery technology in recent years, and consequent falls in price, have made them a viable option for use in power backup systems for data centres. Hitherto valve regulated lead acid (VRLA) batteries were preferred because they offered a better trade off between price, energy density, power, safety and reliability. Now, driven by interest in the development of electric cars, Li-ion batteries are becoming available in formats that make their deployment in uninterruptible power supply systems used in data centres increasingly attractive. A White Paper from Schneider Electric, WP #229 Battery Technology for Data Centers: VRLA vs. Li-ion compares the two technologies from the viewpoint of total cost of ownership (TCO) and highlights the benefits and drawbacks of each option. The benefits of Li-ion battery

technology over VRLA include a much less frequent need to replace batteries over the life of a UPS, thereby reducing the risk of downtime; much lighter batteries for an equivalent amount of energy; up to 10 times more discharge cycles depending on chemistry, technology, temperature and depth of discharge; about four times less self-discharge, or slow discharge of a battery while not in use; and four times or more faster charging, a key benefit in multiple outage scenarios. The main drawback of Li-ion is much greater (perhaps two to three times greater) capital cost for an equivalent amount of energy due to higher manufacturing costs and the need for a battery-management system. There are also stricter transportation regulations, which also add to the cost of deployment. The White Paper examines the functional differences between power cells, designed

39%

Savings systems based on Li-ion technology can produce over a 10-year period compared with VRLA batteries to provide a relatively large amount of power in a short amount of time; and energy cells, which are designed to provide a relatively small amount of power over a long period of time. Li-ion batteries can be used as either power cells or energy cells whereas VRLA batteries are used solely as energy cells. Although some TCO studies for Li-ion batteries have been carried out before, they tend to focus on the requirements of electric vehicles, as that sector is the driver for much Li-ion battery development. The

financial analysis in this White Paper is focused specifically on the requirements of a UPS system for a data centre. The analysis shows that because of the performance characteristics of Li-ion batteries, systems based on this technology can produce savings of 39% over a 10-year period compared with VRLA batteries despite the initial cost premium. Although there are some situations in which the greater capital expenditure will discourage switching over from VRLA batteries in the short term, the likelihood is that Li-ion batteries will fall as new chemistries and technologies come to market. As prices fall, they are likely to become increasingly attractive for data centre operators. l White Paper 229 Battery Technology for Data Centers: VRLA vs. Li-ion is available for free download at apc.com/wp?wp=229

Singapore DC gets UPS power solution

EG Power Solutions has announced that its Protect Blue UPS system has been installed to secure the power supply at one of Singapore’s most recent and largest data centres. The new facility encompasses more than 180,000sq m and features a large power architecture that delivers over 13MW of critical IT capacity. “When it comes to this type of sensitive application, reliability is highly at stake, explains Thomas Rindlisbacher, director of sales, missioncriticalpower.co.uk

AEG in Singapore. “Prior to choosing AEG Power Solutions, the system was originally evaluated and tested by our client in their UK lab. The fact that we could provide local support was essential to them.” Protect Blue UPS is designed for large data centres and offers protection from 250kW to 4MW. With one of the highest energy efficiency rates on the market, Protect Blue is a durable, flexible, easy to maintain UPS solution that optimises total cost of ownership and reduces operator intervention.

Juha Lantta, vice-president commercial UPS and data & IT at AEG Power Solutions, adds: “We designed Protect Blue for such facilities. The ability to collaborate with a highly demanding customer and to ensure we would answer their needs was a great experience. Through working with such high level professionals, we are demonstrating our ability to leverage our industrial critical power expertise and to now also bring it to secure power for data centres.” l aegps.com October 2016 MCP

UPS

Out with the old... A modern data centre needs to follow five main principles for the design of critical power delivery, says Piller Group global managing director Andrew Dyke. If a product can balance all of those principles it will make the life of a DC operator more straightforward

Piller Critical Power Module CPM300

t one time data centres were limited in the choice of architecture for conditioned power – an uninterruptible power supply (UPS), combined with batteries and standby generators, invariably configured in an N+1 redundant arrangement. Mean time between failure (MTBF the total sum of uptime divided by the number of failures) was the dominant design criterion and yet the single points of failure by way of control and paralleling switchgear simply had to be tolerated. After a series of iterative developments involving dual chorded loads, alternative UPS types and packages, different redundancy configurations, assorted cooling techniques, preferred distribution voltages and frequencies, we arrive at the modern criteria for critical IT power in most data centres: 1. Low capital costs 2. Rapid deployment and flexible expansion 3. Low operating costs/ energy consumption 4. Minimised intervention MCP October 2016

Maximised availability with reliability

The contemporary data centre is often a business in its own right, operating in a rapidly changing and growing data handling market with evermore discerning end-customers and with a necessary focus on investment return. During the past two decades this industry has seen an ever increasing focus on the financials surrounding a data centre, driven by a combination of rising energy costs and increasing competition. In some regions, this has resulted in over-commoditisation of a crucial sector upon which all developed economies depend and that will surely store up problems for the future. Consequently, a well-designed modern data centre needs always to consider the ‘five principles’ and any business objectives with appropriate balance. Today, major data centres are built either with large-scale UPS units or with multiple systems of smaller-scale UPS. A large-scale

UPS unit is in the form of rotary or diesel rotary UPS (larger static UPS modules are only possible with internal paralleling of components). The rotary technologies tend to be less complex and systems made up of such, require fewer modules for any given total power. This can reduce paralleled circuits which will raise reliability and cut down maintenance/overhaul demands. Bigger building blocks do however mean larger steps of UPS power as the data centre expands. This may not suit some business growth models, and in such cases the alternative is to deploy multiple smaller UPS units that can facilitate growth in smaller steps. In this alternative approach, it is common to see IGBT-based static UPS deployed with batteries but now a different architecture exists to challenge this custom.

Minimised intervention is therefore a ‘must have’ and yet service and overhaul intervention is essential in every critical power system

In with the new…. Piller’s CPM, a new critical power module, brings together the characteristics for UPS and energy storage into an integrated unit aimed directly at the ‘five missioncriticalpower.uk

23 principles’. This is a full double conversion UPS (VFI mode), combined with a separate supplementary UPS path (VI mode), an eco-mode (VFD) and a built-in energy store with a capacity for bridging to diesel generators at all load levels. A special internal cooling arrangement optimises the UPS operating efficiency in each mode to deliver more than 96%, 97% and 98% respectively, even at loads below 40%. The cooling arrangement takes care of the kinetic energy store allowing low-loss operation of the unit even up to 50°C and there is no practical limitation of discharge duty cycles unlike other kinetic energy stores or batteries. The module can operate continuously in any of the modes or can be set to switch between modes, maximising efficiency according to input conditions and without compromising load protection. It provides the protection of static UPS while eliminating the unreliable and space-hungry battery. It also offers the high efficiencies of line-interactive UPS (VI), a DC energy store life of more than 20 years and fast installation. Wide environmental operating parameters combined with small footprint make the Piller CPM module suitable for container, service corridor or even white space installation. Handover between UPS and generators is reliably ensured by replacing the unknown quantity of a battery with the certain energy reserve of the kinetic energy store working in harmony with system management. Low capital costs The Piller CPM saves capital expenditure by reducing building space requirements through elimination of battery rooms; removing the need for air-conditioning and DC switchgear; saving on installation works for cabling, batteries, air conditioning and DC switchgear. The space, materials and labour savings combine to offer an effective cost per UPS MW installed. missioncriticalpower.uk

50%

Rapid deployment and flexible expansion Invariably speed is of the essence with datacentre construction. With the CPM energy store self-contained with the UPS, there are just two cabinets to position next to one another at site. No battery build, no A/C installation and no cabling works. The module can even be provided on a skid with distribution, ready for direct feed to the rack space. A choice between top or rear ventilation extract gives the designer maximum flexibility for initial installation and expansion. For the same reasons, adding units is fast and easy too. Systems can readily be configured with up to eight units in up to four groups, adding units as the load increases. An enhanced redundancy mode will always ensure that the system runs at optimum efficiency.

Electrical losses account for the majority of operating costs in a critical power system. Most data centres will not be run at full load and so it is partial load efficiencies that are the key to the real running costs. The Piller module will deliver high efficiencies at typical partial loads and simultaneously provide autonomy in the region of one minute. The other major operating expense is maintenance and overhaul. Significant cost savings are realised if batteries do not need to be changed out at all (something conducted usually between every five and seven years) or capacitors do not need replacement every five years. These savings are compounded by the need for just one short service visit per year rather than as many as four visits per annum for some static UPS/battery arrangements. The combination of reduced energy consumption and lower service needs can lead to an operating cost saving as much as 50% per MW UPS system running at 40% load. The chart below offers a 12-year comparative total cost of ownership (TCO) for 1MW of UPS power with short-term back-up under two traditional architectures and the Piller CPM.

Energy consumption Double conversion efficiencies are high for the Piller CPM but VI conditioning mode is even higher and the combination of these two paths with the low-loss energy store makes for a secure power solution.

Minimised intervention Intervention or downtime means time taken up by servicing, overhaul and repair during which the UPS system is either out of action or with reduced resilience. Minimised intervention is therefore a

Cost savings that can be achieved per MW UPS system running at 40% load

Total cost of ownership comparision by expense category (discounted cash flow method)

‘must have’ and yet service and overhaul intervention is essential in every critical power system. On the one hand, this provides a reassurance that systems are in good working order and on the other, it inevitably causes increased risk for the user. A balance between risk and intervention is necessary and the Piller CPM requires only a short service visit once per year and consumables can be replaced with the module on line. DC capacitors and energy storage parts are designed so as not to require replacement for at least the first ten years of operation. Compared with a battery installation, this blend can reduce routine intervention by up to 75%. Maximised availability High availability in a UPS system is a good thing, 100% is Utopia, but that does not mean that the equipment within is reliable. If equipment can be repaired quickly, the system will automatically exhibit high availability but it is a prerequisite with UPS systems to have a high reliability as well. It is recognised that batteries are the main cause of power outages in a data centre with figures as high as 50%* of the incidents. By contrast, standby generators account for just 3%* of the failures. What’s more, many of those engine start failures relate to starting battery defects and not to engine faults. A system with a reliable source for both engine starting and for handover to standby generators will inevitably and significantly raise the reliability of a data centre. And if that reliability can be combined with a low mean time to repair (MTTR) then the availability will also be higher. By eliminating all batteries and having minimised intervention the Piller CPM can comfortably fulfil both the requirement of high availability and high reliability. l piller.com *Emerson Network Power report – Battery Maintenance Solutions for Critical Facilities 2014 October 2016 MCP

UPS

Battery-free energy storage Enhanced flywheel UPS now delivers 78% longer flywheel runtime with battery-free solution

o meet increasingly shorter runtime requirements and to drive innovation in the uninterruptible power supply industry, Active Power, a manufacturer of flywheel energy storage products and modular infrastructure solutions, has introduced its new CleanSource 275XT UPS. The UPS increases the runtime of its flywheel energy storage system by 78% compared with the current CleanSource 300 UPS by spinning the flywheel rotor faster, increasing runtime to one minute at typical industry loads. CleanSource 275XT is a three-phase, parallel online UPS available from 380V to 480V, rated at up to 275 kVA. The runtime supported by CleanSource 275XT meets the growing industry trend for one minute runtime specifications and battery-free solutions in mission critical environments including data centre, health care and industrial and manufacturing applications. The product also provides sufficient ride-through time to protect loads in designs featuring parallel generators or cloud backup. CleanSource 275XT can be paralleled for increased capacity and/or redundancy. Gary Peacock, general manager, Power Gen Sales, for Turner EPS, says: “With the introduction of the new CleanSource 275XT, Active Power sets the standard for the longest runtime UPS with a permanent energy storage flywheel that we see in the market today.” Turner EPS, one of the leading generator and UPS service companies in the UK, is the official distributor and sales partner for Active Power. Active Power president

MCP October 2016

CleanSource 275XT uses a battery-free power module as the basic building block. Each module is rated at 275kVA for 480V systems and 225 or 250kVA for 400V systems. One or more of these modules are combined with an automatic bypass, grounding transformer and various options such as static switch bypass and maintenance bypass to make a complete UPS system

and ceo Mark Ascolese says: “The XT product delivers the highest total cost of ownership savings at 40% compared to other offerings.” He states that: • Reliability is proven 12 times less likely to fail • It emits nine times less carbon emissions than a battery UPS • The combination of high energy efficiency, permanent

energy storage and now increased runtime makes CleanSource 275XT value for money Daniel Bizo, senior analyst, datacentre technologies, at 451 Research, says: “Active Power has introduced its first major enhancement to its core flywheel energy storage units in a long time. That Active Power is able to

offer the same operational benefits of low maintenance, high efficiency and long lifespan for its faster spinning flywheels is a demonstration of technology’s maturity. The significantly improved ride through times that the new flywheels deliver should make many more operators consider the technology over leadacid battery banks which are more prone to hidden failures, contain hazardous components and are expensive to replace every four to five years.” CleanSource 275XT will be available from Turner EPS in the fourth quarter of 2016. Additional configurations and options will be available in the first half of 2017. ● www.turner-eps.co.uk

Flywheel technology Flywheel systems store kinetic energy – energy produced by motion – by constantly spinning a compact rotor in a low-friction environment. When short-term backup power is required because utility power fluctuates or is lost, the inertia allows the rotor to continue spinning and the resulting kinetic energy is converted to electricity. Vital stats: • 1.65m high; 7.77m in diameter; 272kg • Flywheel constantly spins (10,000 rpm) in a vacuum • Each flywheel provides 250kW for 25 seconds or 150kW for nearly one minute . missioncriticalpower.uk

COOLING & AIR MOVEMENT

Sudlows lands DC cooling project at Manchester Airport Sudlows has been commissioned by Manchester Airport to deliver a number of technical upgrades to its existing data centre cooling infrastructure

udlows’ mechanical team has been busy installing a series of upgrades to Manchester Airport’s data centre infrastructure, including a new cooling system that will deliver carbon savings of more than 31,000kg of CO2 every year, compared with the airport’s previous legacy equipment. According to Stuart Gaffney, project manager for Manchester Airport: “Manchester is one of the leading UK airports and this new mechanical upgrade to two of our existing data centres will deliver a highly resilient and energy efficient cooling infrastructure to our facilities. “Furthermore, Sudlows’ expertise and knowledge will be a huge benefit to our ongoing work and expansion.

31,000 Kgs of CO2 saved each year as a result of the new cooling system

Gary Frith, mechanical services director at Sudlows, added: “Manchester Airport has chosen the ideal time to commission this upgrade to its cooling systems. This project is a great example of

the direct benefits that any company can witness when considering replacing its legacy cooling systems with a more environmental and energy efficient system.” l sudlows.com

Hygienic climate control

roduction plants in the food and pharmaceutical markets naturally place hygiene as a top priority. With its new, hygienic design, air/water heat exchangers, Rittal is offering a standardised solution for efficient enclosure climate control in applications where hygiene is critical. Thanks to their IP69K protection category, the units are suitable for use in industries which use highpressure cleaning systems. This wall-mounted heat MCP October 2016

exchanger has a number of critical features, including a roof pitch of 30°, which makes it impossible for objects to be placed on top of it and of course, the pitch means liquids quickly run off the top. Furthermore, the external gasket is made of silicone and meets the FDA 21 CFR 177.2600 Guideline, preventing contamination between the housing of the air/water heat exchanger and the enclosure itself. The heat exchanger features a housing made of stainless steel (Euronorm

1.4301) which is brushed on the outside (grain size 400) and has a surface roughness under 0.8µm, making it easy to clean. The housing is also rated as IP69K (DIN 40050-9) to withstand high-pressure cleaners and daily cleaning with a steam cleaner. They can be installed as wall-mounted units on the side, rear panel or door of an enclosure. Two versions of the unit are available, offering the option of cooling outputs of either 700W or 1300W. l friedhelm-loh-group.com missioncriticalpower.uk

SECURITY

IT alarm bells ring A Tripwire study has shown that a critical site sector, energy’s IT professionals, are overconfident about cyber security capabilities as attacks increase

ripwire, a leading global provider of security and compliance solutions for enterprises and industrial organisations, has announced the results of a study conducted for it by Dimensional Research. The study evaluated the confidence of IT professionals regarding the efficacy of seven key security controls, which must be in place to quickly detect a cyber attack in progress. Study respondents included 763 IT professionals from various industries, including 100 participants from the energy sector. According to the US Department of Homeland Security, the energy sector faces more cyber attacks than any other industry. Despite the frequency in attacks, energy IT professionals participating in Tripwire’s survey were very confident in their ability to collect the data needed to detect a cyber attack. For example, 72% believe

72%

The number of energy sector IT professionals that are confident of detecting a cyber attack

52%

The number of energy sector IT professionals who said their automated tools did not pick up the necessary information to quickly identify an attack in progress

they could detect configuration changes to endpoint devices on their organisation’s network within hours, but more than half (52%) said their automated tools did not pick up all the necessary information, such as the locations, department and other critical details, needed to quickly identify unauthorised configuration changes to endpoint devices that can indicate an attack in progress. “These results show that most security professionals are assuming they are doing the right things to secure their environments, but lack real world data to back up their assumptions,” says Travis Smith, senior security research engineer for Tripwire. “This highlights the importance of testing security controls to ensure they are functioning as expected. It’s not enough to install security tools throughout the environment.

You must test the policies and procedures to be confident the controls in place will stop or detect real-world intrusions.” Additional findings from the study include: • 73% believe they could detect unauthorised software added to the organisation’s network within hours but only 59% know exactly how long the detection process would actually take • 84% believe they would receive alerts within hours if their vulnerability scanning systems detected unauthorised devices. However, more than half (52%) did not know how long it took to generate these alerts. • 44% said that less than 80% of patches succeed in a typical patch cycle • 40% did not know how long it took to generate an alert if a system fails to log properly. However, 95% assumed a

IT infrastructure from smallest to largest. ENCLOSURES

MCP October 2016 it_engl_engl_qr_420x105_2014.indd

POWER DISTRIBUTION

CLIMATE CONTROL

TROL

The energy sector has made significant improvements in securing their slice of the nation’s critical infrastructure but broader adoption of security best practices is still lacking report would be generated within hours

IT at large is often working on assumptions of protection

IT INFRASTRUCTURE

“The energy sector has made significant improvements in securing their slice of the nation’s critical infrastructure but broader adoption of security best practices is still lacking,” says Tim Erlin, director of IT security and risk strategist for Tripwire. “While dedicated security staff are intimately familiar with the deployed capabilities and gaps, IT at large is often working on assumptions of protection.”

The seven key security controls – PCI DSS, SOX, NERC CIP, MAS TRM, NIST 800-53, CIS Top 20 and IRS 1075 – also align with the United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) recommendations and international guidance, such as the Australian Signals Directorate’s Strategies to Mitigate Targeted Cyber Intrusions. The recommendations and guidance include: • Accurate hardware inventory • Accurate software inventory Continuous configuration management and hardening • Comprehensive vulnerability management. • Patch management • Log management • Identity and access management When implemented, these controls deliver, actionable information that is necessary to defend against the most pervasive and dangerous cyber attacks. Before any damage is done, it is vital for organisations to identify indicators of compromise quickly so appropriate action can be taken. l tripwire.com

SOFTWARE & SERVICES www.rittal.co.uk

October 2016 MCP 17.01.14 15:03

PROCUREMENT & CONNECTIONS

Getting battery storage connected to the grid The connection for what is climed to be the UK’s largest battery storage facility was conducted by Morrison Utility Services

orrison Utility Services was appointed to manage the design, build and installation of a state-of-the-art electricity storage facility that will provide a leading test bed for exploring the capabilities and costs of high-voltage energy storage for UK Power Networks. The project centres on the installation of a 6MW/10MWh battery at one of UK Power Network’s main 33/11kV primary substation sites in Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire. The connection phase of the project was completed on programme, within budget and without incident or injury. UK Power Networks has described the device as the largest of its kind to be located on any distribution network in the UK. The development of the storage facility represents an important milestone for UK Power Network’s Smarter Network Storage project, enabling the company to delay or avoid any significant rebuild of the electricity network, which would have otherwise have been needed for Leighton Buzzard. The design plans had to address a number of challenges including the fact that the storage facility itself is being built on a flood plain. Morrison Utility Services overcame this challenge with an open basement design that will enable any flood water to flow beneath the building. This overall project team comprised of collaboration between a variety of organisations that included Newcastle University, MCP October 2016

UK Power Networks has described the device as the largest of its kind to be located on any distribution network in the UK

Imperial College London, Kiwi Power, Younicos, S&C Electric, Swanbarton Limited, AMTSybex, Poyry Management Consulting, National Grid, Smartest Energy, UKPN and Morrison. Nick Heyward, project director at UK Power Networks, comments: “We are delighted that the design

and construction phase of the Smarter Network Storage project has reached successful completion. A huge ‘well done’ to the Morrison project team that oversaw this important element of the project, particularly with no lost time injuries during the construction.” l morrisonuc.com missioncriticalpower.co.uk

POWER DISTRIBUTION

http://www.shutterstock.com/pic354260207/stock-photo-technologyfuture-network-architecture-conceptimage-of-devices.html?src=91Gx1qfKLNxJ1DXonyxQQ-1-26

IoT demands a new approach to capacity planning The Internet of Things is changing from a promising but rather abstract concept into an approach that is implemented in practice. This presents a new challenge for data centre managers. It is clear that IoT is going to have a major impact on data centre power infrastructure in particular but how do we manage these consequences effectively?

f there is one theme that has been capturing the imagination in recent times, it is the Internet of Things (IoT). Although many people are still struggling to find a good definition of this concept, everyone can feel that we are talking about a very significant development. When massive numbers of devices, smartphones, sensors, gauges etc get connected to the internet, the result is not only a very great number of new connections but also unprecedented amounts of data. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s why many market MCP October 2016

analysts see a direct relationship between the Internet of Things and huge data proliferation, modest per device, but the sheer number of connections means the total amount of information is enormous. And all of that data has to be gathered in one or more central locations, so that it can be analysed and used to increase profits. Challenge ahead For data centre managers, this represents an interesting challenge â&#x20AC;&#x201D; it has rapidly become a new trend that has a major impact on data-centre

infrastructure. Many data centres are still in the middle of their transition from traditional client/server applications to cloud solutions. Now, on top of that, the Internet of Things is on the horizon. It is clear enough that IoT will mean a big surge in demand for computing and storage capacity. But it would be a mistake to think that companies and governments can manage simply by placing some extra servers and storage devices. A very important question is going to be: can our data centreâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s electrical

infrastructure handle this additional demand? Many data centres use power infrastructure that is many years old. The needs and wishes that were important at the time and formed the basis of this energy supply are now quite obsolete. This applies to almost every data centre, but even more so for data centres that support hybrid infrastructures (on-premise applications and cloud services). In all cases, it is crucial that the power infrastructure be carefully reviewed. How was it designed? What about the energy consumption per missioncriticalpower.uk

33 room, aisle, rack and, ideally, per individual IT device? How much energy can we supply, and how much margin is there? Not just considering the data centre as a whole but also when it comes to distribution to rooms and aisles. Where are the bottlenecks? Where are we running up against our limits? Capacity planning The next step will be the creation of an overview of the new IT equipment that will come into use in the coming years. This is of course a typical example of capacity planning but it is one in which we have to work with many uncertainties. Where we often have a solid historical overview of the development of energy consumption and how it is distributed across the data centre when it comes to existing IT workloads, a new trend like the Internet of Things makes those appraisals a lot more difficult. The client – whether one’s own business organisation or external parties – likewise often hardly has a picture of the developments we should expect regarding IoT in the coming years. Which projects are going to be launched is often still unclear. And we certainly don’t know how rapidly an IoT service will become popular or widely used. Many companies are only in the phase of initial

Measurement and usage data must be able to arrive continuously; a failure in the energy supply is no longer acceptable Data centre capacity dashboard pilot projects, which are by definition small-scale. So even if concrete experiences emerge from these projects, they will be based on tests rather than any large-scale deployments. Difficult to gauge Existing methods for achieving solid capacity planning can be used (see Raritan’s white paper ‘Data Center Power Distribution and Capacity Planning’ at raritan.co.uk). But we’re going to have to gain experience in correctly estimating the new demand for energy one step at a time. But there is another matter we can’t forget about: security of supply. Traditional data centres, where the tone is still set by classic client/ server applications, obviously aimed for very good IT system

Raritan’s intelligent PX PDUs provide real-time power data to enable accurate visualisation of available power capacity and days of supply missioncriticalpower.uk

availability. You’ll often hear phrases like ‘5 x 9’ or 99.999%. In practice, virtually no enterprise data centres attain this kind of uptime. But then, in practice, that’s also not all that important. Of course the occasional downtime is an inconvenience but it’s mainly inconvenient for employees of one’s own business organisations — since they are the people who are actually using these classic client/ server applications. Data measurement The situation is already quite different owing to migrations to the cloud, and with the emergence of IoT, it is only going to get worse. In the same way we personally do not accept long waiting times when opening apps on our smartphones, the Internet of Things requires 100% availability. Measurement and usage data must be able to arrive continuously; a failure in the energy supply is no longer acceptable. After all, we want to use this data for profit. So a redundant energy supply will be of crucial importance if a data centre wants to be able to properly support IoT projects or applications. This need for absolutely uninterrupted service also impacts the issue of what’s the best place to host IoT applications. Are we going to use a cloud provider or hosting party? If so, what guarantees can those sorts of

parties offer regarding actual 100% availability of system environments hosted with them? Or might it be better to keep these sorts of important applications internal? A balancing act The question that lies at the core of this is: what is more important – minimising energy supply costs, or is it better to invest a bit more money in our power infrastructure so that we can be absolutely sure we’ll derive maximum gain from our IoT projects – including financially? At first glance, the arrival of IoT projects at the data centre may seem easy enough to absorb: it requires more IT equipment but surely we can find a place for that. However, that would be the wrong attitude. IoT offers companies and governments enormous opportunities but we do need to be certain that these applications will be available 100% of the time. We suddenly have to face a surprisingly complex issue, one that involves a great number of trade-offs. As such, my advice would be: if you have to deal with IoT projects at your data centre, always seek the advice of a party that has a lot of experience with capacity planning, and which can strike a good balance between requirements and desires with respect to costs and availability. l raritan.com/eu October 2016 MCP

CHP

University rises to the carbon savings challenge The University of Nottingham is set to reduce its carbon emissions using onsite combined heat and power technology

y commissioning the latest generation of Veolia CHP units, the University of Nottingham’s Sutton Bonnington Campus, home to the schools of veterinary medicine and biosciences, will gain secure low carbon energy and reduce CO2 emissions by more than 1,200 tonnes a year. The 100 acre site, named number one in the UK in the national league tables, is leading the research to fight infectious diseases in livestock and improve the lives of animals and people worldwide, and includes state-of-the-art teaching facilities, 700 student

Alongside the investments in solar power, this will give us greater energy independence, cost savings and reduce our dependency on the grid

Two 400kWe Veolia units will supply energy-efficient heating and electricity to the campus MCP October 2016

residences, sports centre, shops and catering outlets. Energy-efficient heating and electricity will be supplied to the campus facilities by two 400kWe Veolia units that incorporate the latest advances in efficiency and emission control. This latest application of combined heat and power on the campus adds to Veolia’s total 25MWe capacity that provides energy efficient low carbon generation in higher education. These installations supply electricity, heating, hot water and cooling for the education and research facilities and housing of more than 200,000 students on more than 60 campuses. Commenting on this latest on-campus installation, Veolia UK COO public and commercial Gavin Graveson said: “The energy efficiency and security provided by CHP technology helps further the sustainability of universities. With the focus on reducing climate change and preserving resources CHP can contribute both to lowering carbon emissions and reducing the impacts of energy price variations.” Andy Nolan, director of sustainability at the University

1200

Annual emissions saving that will be achieved by the university of Nottingham, added: “The new CHP units are a significant step closer in achieving the university’s ambitious carbon reduction target. Alongside the investments in solar power, this will give us greater energy independence, cost savings and reduce our dependency on the grid.” CHP plants work by effectively capturing and using the heat generated as part of the electricity generation process. This makes a typical CHP more than twice as efficient as separate grid generation and conventional boiler plant, which greatly reduces the carbon emissions from provision of heat and electricity, and can provide energy cost savings that can be redirected to the core educational and research activities. l veolia.co.uk missioncriticalpower.uk

CHP

A healthy return on investment SenerTec general manager Gary Stoddart says a recent report by the Sustainable Development Unit for NHS England and Public Health England shows the potential for savings in the health service

he UK healthcare sector spends more than £400m per year on energy. Combined heat and power specialist Senertec has welcomed a report from the Sustainable Development Unit (SDU) for NHS England and Public Health England that shows switching to CHP is likely to reduce its energy bills. CHP has a huge role to play in improving the efficiency of UK buildings, particularly those with high and continuous year-round heating loads such as hospitals; because of the long running hours, these buildings can achieve the most efficient operation. Sustainability measures The UK healthcare sector spends more than £400m per year on energy. The Securing Healthy Returns report analysed 35 sustainability measures that it says could help the health service achieve a total £400m of cost savings. Out of 18 energysaving saving measures covered in the report, CHP provides the highest annual potential cost savings, at £26.4m, ranking above staff energy awareness MCP October 2016

and behavioural change (£21.5m), and significantly higher than high-efficiency lighting (£7.2m) and reducing temperature set points by 1 degree C (£6.2m). According to the SDU, CHP has the potential to cut CO2 emissions by 3750 tonnes a year across the NHS – the equivalent of removing 1250 cars from the road, the carbon dioxide offset by a forest more than three times the size of Sherwood, or the salaries of more than 1,200 newly qualified registered nurses. These savings can be achieved because on-site CHP is approximately 30% more efficient than relying on traditional heating plant and electricity supplied solely from the grid, and costs three or four times less. In conventional

30%

Efficiency gains from CHP compared with traditional heating plant and electricity supplied solely from the grid

electricity generation vast amounts of energy are lost because ‘waste’ heat is discarded and moving power over large distances results in transmission losses. Keep it small However, savings can only be made if the CHP unit is sized correctly. Oversized CHP units will not run if the heat demand is not present, and as a result the anticipated electricity will not be generated. The golden rule for CHP is to keep it as small as possible. Sizing the system so that the base load heating requirements can be met largely by the CHP unit alone will result in the continuous generation of low cost, low carbon electricity as a by-product of producing base load heating. CHP is a well-established, proven, reliable technology with numerous successful installations throughout the world, including hospitals across the UK. It should be an important consideration for any hospital looking to replace their heating system. l senertec.co.uk

According to the SDU, CHP has the potential to cut emissions by 3750 tonnes a year across the NHS – the equivalent of more than 1,200 newly qualified registered nurses

missioncriticalpower.uk

PRODUCTS

Better connectivity for Docklands Telehouse Europe has launched the first phase of Telehouse North Two, its new £135m data centre in London, and has marked the occasion by confirming the London Internet Exchange (LINX) as a partner. With two floors of secure colocation space immediately available to early adopters, Telehouse North Two will cover 24,000 sq m of gross floor area across an 11-storey building within Telehouse’s existing 73,000 sq m Docklands campus. The investment in North Two further enhances connectivity at Telehouse’s Docklands campus, already claimed to be the most highly connected data centre site in Europe, with direct access to a diverse range of connectivity partners. This enables Telehouse to meet the growing demand from cloud service providers (CSPs) and over-the-top content providers (OTTs) resulting from the rise in cloud adoption and the increased demands for content.

Telehouse is the primary home of LINX, a network that effectively provides the backbone to the UK’s internet, and is one of the largest sites for internet traffic exchange in the world. Telehouse’s carrier-neutral Docklands campus was opened in 1990 and LINX traffic has been travelling through the site for more than 20 years. LINX has more than 700 members from around the globe and Telehouse hosts the vast majority of this UK internet peering traffic through its Docklands campus. With this

Aggreko’s new partnership

Aggreko, a global leader in modular, mobile power and adjacent products, has announced a partnership with UK-based Bowman Power Group, a provider of energy efficiency technology for the power generation industry. Bowman Power Group’s Electric Turbo Compounding (ETC) system delivers a change in the efficiency of reciprocating engines by recovering waste heat energy from the engine exhaust, and converting it to useful power. Despite a global drop in diesel prices, the efficiency gains are such that customers can achieve return on investment in

MCP October 2016

short timescales. In 2014, Aggreko began a technology evaluation project with Bowman to assess the effectiveness of ETC combined with the Cummins KTA50-G3, the core engine in the Aggreko rental fleet. Initial trials demonstrated a 4% additional power output and 5% improved fuel consumption. This led to the agreement of a formal programme to further explore Bowman’s ETC system. The partnership also directly supports Aggreko’s business priorities of technology leadership, product innovation, and increased benefit to customers. bowmanpower.com

movement of data, low latency requirements for networks and financial services is a given. However, increased performance pressures for video streaming and gaming for example, mean that proximity and connectivity are now more critical than ever. Telehouse North Two will be the first multi-floor data centre in the world to feature a vertical indirect adiabatic and evaporative cooling system, delivering a power usage effectiveness of 1.16. It will combine efficiency and connectivity with peace of mind and is the only UK data centre that owns an on-campus 132 kV grid substation directly connected to the National Grid, reducing transmission losses and providing exceptional power density and service continuity. The site has a total power capacity of up to 73 MVA, which includes a capacity of up to 50 MVA from the substation and 23 MVA from six additional commercial power feeds. telehouse.net

Widescreen LCD console Austin Hughes has announced its latest widescreen LCD console drawers. The new 21” and 24” widescreen versions are the latest addition to the CyberView range, ideal for broadcast and AV applications due to the increased screen size and optional 3G/HD/ SD-SDI broadcast-grade input with speakers. The two models available are: • 21” widescreen full HD 1080p LCD console drawer (F121 model) • 24” widescreen high resolution 1920x1200 native WUXGA console drawer (X124 model) Both models have LED backlight, 16.7M colours, standard DVI-D video input with HDMI option, the option of left hand or right hand opening and two-year warranty as standard. As with all CyberView LCD console drawers Austin

Hughes offers a wide range of optional integrated keyboard, video and mouse (KVM). Austin Hughes LCD console drawers and KVM solutions are used globally in mobile broadcast and outside broadcast vehicle systems, postproduction, studios, and data centres. The new X124 and F121 large widescreen LCD Console Drawers have been designed in response to demand from broadcast and AV clients. austin-hughes.eu

missioncriticalpower.uk

PRODUCTS

Understanding your power options as DSBR scrapped As the National Grid scraps its controversial Demand Side Balancing Reserve Scheme, shentongroup, a technical expert in standby power, UPS and CHP systems, is urging organisations dependent on continuous power supplies to examine the various options available to help them safeguard their services. Widely referred to as National Grid’s ‘Last Resort’ scheme, in order to counter a shortfall in reserve power, businesses across the country were offered attractive incentives to cut their electricity usage between 4pm and 8pm on weekday evenings. As aged coal power stations are taken off-line, green replacements, including gas power stations, are not being commissioned anywhere near fast enough, resulting in some of the lowest reserve power levels the UK has experienced in recent years. National Grid planned to enlist enough

businesses on the scheme to reduce demand by some 177MW. However, due to a lack of participants, only 30MW has been achieved, with few organisations willing to take part in the scheme between 5pm

and 6pm, this being the country’s prime demand time. With the cessation of the scheme, National Grid remains an uncertain and potentially unreliable source of power for organisations relying on continuous power supplies for business continuity. Shentongroup offers an array of reference and educational material through its website. For organisations wishing to better understand their options, there is a free White Paper entitled How important is power continuity to your business. It is geared towards helping businesses consider how the various types of power failures might affect them and their options to protect themselves from such scenarios. Disaster Recovery Planning – How to create a resilient strategy gives the reader a better understanding of how to evaluate the risks and to create an effective disaster recovery plan. shentongroup.co.uk

Surge protection brochure

The core elements of DCIM

Distributor Switchtec has issued a brochure showcasing surge protection devices (SPDs) from a leader in the field, Citel. As well as providing technical specifications of some of the most popular surge protection devices from Citel, the six-page brochure includes useful information on the risks of electrical surges, the benefits of using SPDs and a short guide, ‘Does my installation need an SPD?’ Surge protection devices assist in the protection of electrical and electronic equipment against transients, originating from lightning and switching sources. These transients can cause damage ranging from the premature ageing to the complete destruction of equipment within the entire electrical installation. Products such as LED lighting, data servers, industrial equipment, PV inverters and PLCs are critical to business activity and any down time or product replacement can be costly. Type 1 surge protectors

Geist is uncovering the foundation of data centre infrastructure management in a new White Paper, The Core Elements of DCIM. The management of facilities as complex and dynamic as data centres is not a feat for the faint of heart. High-maintenance equipment must be meticulously arranged to economise space, closely monitored to ensure optimal functionality, and safeguarded from power problems and

MCP October 2016

are designed to be installed where a direct lightning strike risk is high. Type 2 surge protectors are designed to be installed at the entrance of the installation, in the main switchboard, or close to sensitive terminals, on installations without LPS (lightning rods). In case of very sensitive or remote equipment, secondary stage of surge protectors is required: these low energy SPDs could be Type 2 or Type 3. The brochure can be downloaded at the address below. switchtec.co.uk

environmental hazards. Geist offers Environet Facility as a DCIM solution but even more, wants end-users to have the comfort level of DCIM knowledge, along with when and why to implement. The release of this White Paper may help answer these questions at hand.To download a copy of The Core Elements of DCIM go to the address below: go.geistglobal.com/ DCIM-WP-1com/ CoreElements-DCIM

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October 2016 MCP

Q&A

Robin Koffler EcoPowerSupplies.com’s director on Welsh scones, Les Dawson and 007 Who would you least like to share a lift with? The Laurel and Hardy of the Leave campaign – Boris Johnson and Michael Gove – on the night they realised that they had won something they did not plan to win or believe they could. We may come out of the EU stronger than anyone thought in the years ahead but only through luck, not judgement. You’re God for the day. What’s the first thing you do? I’d hold a conference with all the other gods and deities and get them to agree on a single religion, set of beliefs, values, ceremonies and book. That’ll make it far easier for humanity going forward. If you could travel back in time to a period in history, what would it be and why? I’d prefer to travel forward a couple of centuries and find out what energy sources we’re using. Did the oil and gas run out and if so when? Does Tesla now control the world’s lithium-ion battery supply and who doesn’t use a fusion engine in their home to generate electricity. Who or what are you enjoying listening to? I signed up to Amazon Prime

I’d prefer to travel forward a couple of centuries and find out what energy sources we’re using MCP October 2016

last year and am now addicted to the music service. I’m currently driving my household mad playing albums from my teenage years from INXS, Bob Marley, David Bowie, Bruce Springsteen and Tears for Fears. I’ve also started to mix in a bit of Nat King Cole and the Rat Pack. What unsolved mystery would you like the answers to? There’s a Welsh café that I have been visiting for over 40 years that serves the most amazing scones. No matter what I try, I’ve never been able to recreate them at home. What would you take to a desert island and why? I’d take a camera, telescope and set of astronomical guides. I’m imagining that there would be no light pollution and time to really get to grips with astronomy. What’s your favourite film (or book) and why? That’s difficult. I’m a big Bond fan as anyone who hears my ringtone will know and have watched nearly every 007 film to the point where I can quote the dialogue. It’s interesting to see how the character has developed over the years to fit in with political attitudes and correctness. Daniel Craig was of his time. It’s a shame he won’t do another film as his portrayal of a middle-aged agent, fighting to fit in with a younger, more modern world that views him as a relic from a bygone era does resonant for me at times. If you could perpetuate a myth about yourself, what would it be? That I’m a ‘marketing whizz’. I’ve just

been lucky enough to be part of several successful businesses where marketing played a role in helping them to take-off. What would your super power be and why? To make people laugh. True comics are geniuses. Robin Williams, probably the most famous Aladdin genie of them all, had this rarest of super powers. So did Les Dawson, who nearly killed my wife and I on a rainy Saturday afternoon in Blackpool watching Run For Your Wife. Natural comic talent inspires and lifts the soul. What would you do with a million pounds? I’d set up a trust find to help those who need assistance and support but as a secret benefactor. The satisfaction comes from knowing what you have achieved. What’s your greatest extravagance? My family. I never realised how much three kids would cost and that they would stay at home so long. Once they’ve left home (or start paying rent) I may be able to spend a little on an old classic motor like an Austin Healy or something really extravagant like that. If you were blessed with any talent, what would your dream job be and why? Patience. Gardener. I’ve never been patient and it shows. Sometimes you’ve got to kick back and let a business develop with the people around it. What is the best piece of advice

ever been given? Learn to ‘procrastinate’. I was fortunate in my early 20s to meet a successful business leader who tried to install this in me. Not every job needs completing today. Good is good enough sometimes. What irritates you the most in life? Injustice and especially when I can do something about it. Also the effect university life has on your children. What happens during those three years away that turns them into beings from another planet when they return home? What should the energy users be doing to help itself in the current climate? The answer is to become more energy efficient while planning for erratic power availability. Organisations reliant on critical power must prepare for any eventuality whether it’s a momentary break in power form a nearby electrical storm or a grid induced lasting several minutes or hours. They also need to consider self-sufficiency through locally generated power and energy storage. This is a trend adopted by the mega datacentres and something that ‘smaller’ operators will inevitably implement in the next 5-10 years. What’s the best thing – work wise – that you did recently? I helped someone down on their luck to start their own business. They’re up and running now and that’s always rewarding. ● missioncriticalpower.uk