White paper
Grid-interactive data centers: enabling decarbonization and system stability Janne Paananen Technology Manager Critical Power Systems Eaton Ehsan Nasr Senior Engineer Data Center Advanced Development Microsoft
Summary Data centers are one of the fastest growing loads on the electric grid. Since they use energy storage as backup in the Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS), the growth in data center loads will result in growth in energy storage capacity. As the penetration of intermittent renewable resources increases, the electric grid requires energy storage to maintain grid balances and system stability. Data centers can offer a unique opportunity to help maintain grid balance. This paper will discuss how data centers can monetize existing assets with no negative impact to customers and support to improve grid stability, which enables the integration of more renewables.
Introduction Data center as a data plant Although data centers are considered as loads for the electric grid, every megawatt (MW) of data center capacity includes megawatts of power generation from utilities, megawatts of power generation as a backup system and energy storage system in the UPS. Hyperscale data centers like Microsoft’s are effectively data plants with power plants and energy storage plants next to the data center. Thus, a data center will be an asset to the grid in future, given distributed energy assets are the core components of its design (e.g., backup generators, UPSs), and these distributed energy resources (DER) can provide services to support grid decarbonization. Transition to low-carbon energy systems Organizations and society are moving away from fossil-based fuels to cleaner energy sources to help battle climate change and reduce our environmental impact. This decarbonization of energy systems is mainly based on the use of variable renewable energy (VRE) such as solar and wind power generation, but the transition toward low-carbon power systems is creating new challenges for system operators. Managing the availability of the energy and variations in renewable power generation are subjects commonly discussed with the potential congestion in power systems caused by increasing energy consumption in quickly developing areas.