DATA CENTRE DESIGN & OPERATIONS
Keeping the lights on
Jason Yates, Riello UPS Technical Services Manager, outlines how data centres could help secure energy supplies during what promises to be a challenging few months ahead by deploying their standby power systems.
22 www.datacentrereview.com Q4 2022
s the clocks go back and winter approaches, there are concerns that Britain is about to be hit by an upcoming energy crisis that could even lead to rolling blackouts. While National Grid ESO’s latest Winter Outlook forecast suggests there’ll be enough power to meet demand over the coming months, the margins will be tight. And if the Europe-wide shortage of gas intensifies, the electricity system operator’s worst-case scenario would see households and other energy consumers facing three-hour blackouts similar to those last seen during the notorious Three Day Week of 1974. To mitigate against such scenes, National Grid is deploying mitigation measures such as securing 2 GW of additional power from coal-fired plants, enough energy to supply 600,000 homes. From 1 November, it also introduced a Demand Flexibility Service which will incentivise both domestic and commercial energy users to reduce-peak time consumption, a scheme it believes will reduce demand by up to another 2 GW of electricity. Households will receive around £10 a day to use power-hungry appliances such as dishwashers or tumble dryers overnight, while companies will also be paid to either reduce demand or switch to battery power during peak times. By their very nature, data centres are energy-intensive operations. And the industry is only too aware of the need for sustainability. So is there anything operators can do to help the grid cope with these upcoming demand and supply pressures?
A