FEATURE

Often when a battery backup system becomes more resilient , take , for example , an Uninterruptible Power Supply ( UPS ) deployed in an N + 1 configuration , efficiency is the first aspect sacrificed .

Owners and operators , therefore , need not just consider the types of infrastructure they are deploying more carefully , but also the design of their data centres , the circular attributes and the ability to integrate with both renewables and the grid .

Having a well-rounded , highly efficient or holistic approach is not only good for reducing Operational Expenditure ( OpEx ), Total Cost of Ownership ( TCO ) and carbon emissions , it ’ s fundamentally good for the environment .

Why sustainability matters

In recent years , data centre operators have come under increasing pressure to make their facilities more efficient , environmentally friendly and sustainable . A growing global awareness of the effects of climate change , combined with end-user demands for sustainability , has seen a number of transformative initiatives take place within the sector , including the emergence of the Climate Neutral Data Centre Pact , setting ambitious targets to help operators become carbon neutral by 2030 .

In response , trade associations such as the European Data Centre Association ( EUDCA ) and Cloud Infrastructure Providers in Europe ( CISPE ) have helped to create a Self Regulatory Initiative that sets standards for sustainability and a drive to meet EU targets . Both of these bodies have members who operate both inside and outside the EU , so their regulatory initiatives will apply to data centre operations across the continent as a whole .

Among the measures agreed is a commitment to ensuring that all new data centres in Europe will meet an annual Power Usage Effectiveness ( PUE ) ratio of 1.3 or 1.4 , depending on the climate region in which they are located . Best practices mandated by the initiative include commitments around energy efficiency targets , carbon-free energy generation , water conservation and the Circular Economy .

By some estimates , energy is responsible for over 80 % of the world ’ s CO ₂ emissions and data centres are estimated to represent between 1 – 2 % of global electricity consumption . Add to that the tremendous growth of data centre capacity , commercial property giant , CBRE , anticipating that Europe will see a surge of over 400MW of new data centre space built in 2021 – approximately 20 % more than recent years – efficiency and sustainability are , therefore , more critical than ever .

Customers are also looking to align with organisations embracing sustainable business practices . A recent survey by 451 Research found that 97 % of colocation customers are demanding contractual commitments to sustainability , and of the + 800 global operators surveyed , more than half believe that efficiency and sustainability will be important competitive differentiators within three years . A colocation provider that ignores or diminishes the importance of efficiency and sustainability can rest assured that their competitors will not . Yet , while 55 % of surveyed operators were already taking some action in this regard , there is still more work to be done .

Efficiency and resilience

The evolution of today ’ s digital economy has meant that application uptime and uninterruptible power are , in essence , business critical . Power protection systems that safeguard against service disruption are paramount , but the need for sustainable backup solutions is also abundantly clear .

Data centre UPS systems must incorporate features that provide assurance against downtime without placing unnecessary additional burdens on overall power consumption . From a conceptual point of view , modular UPS ’ that can be right-sized or scaled to match their load ensure that the risk to IT infrastructure is mitigated by just the ‘ right ’ amount of battery backup .

Another key aspect is the operating mode , which can boost the efficiency of a UPS while barely compromising on the level of redundancy offered . Modes such as this can enable users to enjoy the highest level of energy savings without sacrificing load protection . Schneider Electric ’ s patented ECOnversion mode , for example , offers UPS efficiencies of 99 % and alongside pioneering safety features , such as its ‘ Live Swap ’ function . This allows power modules to be added or replaced while the UPS is online and fully operational – ensuring unscheduled downtime is kept to a minimum during the replacement process .

UPS systems with longer battery lives , especially if they can withstand a much www . intelligentdatacentres . com

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