Following proposals from the Labour Party to build new data centres on greenbelt land, Aggreko is highlighting the importance of bridging power in the successful delivery of new projects.
Peter Kyle, Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation, and Technology, has proposed easing planning requirements for data centres to boost the nation’s capacity for cloud computing and AI.
According to industry experts, this will likely invite far more applications for data centres on the greenbelt. However, with the National Grid already under significant strain and less developed in these areas, Billy Durie, Global Sector Head of Data Centres at Aggreko, is calling attention to the role bridging power will have to play in ensuring the scheme’s success.
“Plans to expand data centre construction out to the greenbelt are likely to encourage the development of the UK’s cloud computing and AI industries, but will not be without their challenges,” said Durie.
“The wait for a grid connection on a new data centre build can often be multiple years, stretching into decades in extreme cases. Exacerbating this further is the lack of developed power infrastructure on greenbelt land, which will require significant time and investment to support the requirements of a high-energy user such as a data centre.
“This is where bridging power comes into play. Decentralised energy solutions, totally independent of the grid, can support construction and commissioning before a mains connection is established, allowing the build to go ahead early,” Durie added.
According to John Pettigrew, CEO of National Grid, the boom in AI will cause data centre power use to surge six-fold in the next decade. In direct contrast, the UK’s high-voltage transmission network is now more than 70 years old.
“All factors point towards bridging power being critical to the success of the data centre sector moving forward,” said Durie. “Underlining this all is a need to ensure that growth is sustainable, in the interest of ensuring that the nation stays on track in its net zero ambitions.”
Here, Durie is highlighting the technologies that will be key to the provision of greener bridging power. Stage-V generators, Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS), and Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO), for instance, are just three that Aggreko is investing in as part of its sustainability framework, Energising Change.
“Regardless of the shifting political landscape, it is clear that data centres will be a key building block of the UK’s future. As grid infrastructure struggles to keep pace, greener bridging solutions will be key to powering growth,” Durie said.
We hear from experts at Eaton and Lancium about their foresight on the environmental impact of sourcing alternative power solutions during critical infrastructure upgrades.
Neil Potter, Customer Solutions Leader – Low-Voltage Switchgear Assemblies, Eaton EMEA
Power infrastructure designed even a decade ago wasn’t built to meet the demands placed on it today. For example, the rising use of AI in business has seen energy demands on data centres soar – putting their out-of-date power infrastructure under pressure and sustainability questioned. And this pressure is only set to grow, with more businesses looking to capitalise on the technology.
To meet such rising demands, data centres must undergo key infrastructure upgrades. But as our reliance on data centres grows, it is increasingly important we ensure they have a consistent source of power. That is why bridging, a means to provide temporary power solutions during infrastructure upgrades, is so crucial.
Building future-proofed data centres, to avoid facing the same challenge in another 10 years’ time, requires a complete rethink in the way they are designed – importantly, placing flexibility at their very core and keeping sustainability front of mind.
However, upgrading infrastructure comes with its own set of challenges and risks such as:
- Ensuring continuity of supply within a critical load environment
- Running temporary non-carbon-friendly diesel generators for long periods of time
- Any interaction with the grid will affect the supply and frequency fluctuations
- Increased waste management (e-waste) from any decommissioned equipment
This is why bridging power is so important. But how we go about it is just as important, particularly as we keep sustainability goals front of mind. For example, traditional generators being used as an alternative source of power, often running for prolonged periods of time, would have both a commercial and environmental impact.
We must look to utilise more renewable power generation, such as solar and wind. Coupling these with backup power technologies can make varying renewables much more reliable. For example, using frequency regulation, which Eaton’s EnergyAware UPS provides, and critically harvesting any excess power through Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) enables a more sustainable approach to bridging power. And as a result, prevents power infrastructure upgrades from harming progress towards sustainability goals, positively contributing to them instead.
Ali Fenn, President, Lancium
With AI driving significant incremental demand for data centres over and above already strong core market growth; estimates for AI in the US market range from an incremental 30-60GW’s over the next 5-10 years. Access to energy has become the fundamental driver and governor of infrastructure development – available and planned capacity in traditional data centre markets just simply does not meet the forecast demand.
At the same time, fossil fuel plants are being retired at record levels as part of the broader decarbonisation initiative. Net impact: hyperscalers and data centre developers are considering all possible pathways, and there will absolutely – unfortunately – need to be more gas to hit the aggressive growth timelines.
Fortunately, there are certain locations in the world well suited to rapidly build out new renewable generation and storage, fuelling the incremental load growth with corresponding growth with sustainable resources. Texas, in particular, is emerging as a leading opportunity, characterised by abundant sun and wind, a connect-and-manage system for new generations, a deregulated market, a business-friendly environment and plenty of physical space.
At Lancium, we capitalise on these conditions to develop Gigawatt-scale data centre campuses, complemented by new generation and storage resources, as well as dynamically orchestrated energy management solutions, to enable our customers both to grow to mega-scale infrastructure and to do so without compromising climate goals.
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