RECAP | ROUNDTABLE | Diesel-Free Generators - considerations and what’s available

This Roundtable on Diesel Free Generators – What is available and the considerations, was an excellent discussion that not only covered the topic at hand but looked at the wider implications of Sustainable energy and possibly how customers need to revise their expectations to meet Climate Change targets.
It was opened with a reminder of why the industry, as with all others globally, are looking at reduced their carbon output, through the Paris Agreement, signed in 2016 by 196 countries, which has filtered down to the EU aim to be Climate Neutral by 2050 and the US pledge to reduce their Greenhouse gas pollution by 50% by 2030.

We then passed off to the Uptime Institute Consultant leading the discussion Enoch Simpson, who ran through the current alternatives:
• Hydrogen Fuel Cells
• Solar
• Lithium-Ion Batteries
• Wind
• Natural Gas
• Biofuel

Looking at why Diesel Generators are currently so popular, Enoch reminded those on the call that engine generators provide a high impact capacity in terms of kilowatt load on a smaller footprint – i.e., it’s readily available on-site, can be maintained , started up quickly and is reliable when maintained. Therefore, whatever “alternative fuel “replaces it needs to fits ideally these same criteria to maintain availability as engine-generators has provided.

Running through the alternatives with this in mind the following points were made:
• Solar and Wind are reliant on local weather conditions, and also the space to produce the energy on site may not be available.
• There are also concerns regarding storage, Total cost of ownership, or if not produced on site, and this applies to all alternatives, transportation.
• Natural Gas is highly flammable, so will need specialist storage and highly trained maintenance staff
• Biofuels allow the operators to re-use existing infrastructure
• Hydrogen Fuel cells have a high cost of maintenance, but these are coming down. However they have a large footprint compared to Diesel Generators.

One member commented, when the question of what stage those on the call are at in the changeover, that their generators have 10 years left, and therefore sets their timeline. They wont be replacing like for like and therefore need to begin the process of making the decision. An important point that this doesn’t need to happen tomorrow, but it needs serious consideration for the future.

Enoch agreed with this and raised a cautionary point that there are many alternatives out in the market, but they may not by fully developed and be cost effective by 2030, the deadline that those participating in the EUDCA pledge have set.

In a slight veer away from Generator power, David Mytton gave an update on Nuclear Energy. He agreed that Nuclear energy often gets looked over when discussing sustainable energy. However, Nuclear does have a similar issue to Solar and Wind in that it can take days to respond to sudden increased demand and fulfil the required capacity, and it is not suitable for any degree of flexibility. It also remains an expensive source of power as economies of scale and risks have yet to be overcome.

Back to the main topic, a question from a member was “Hydrogen seems to the most possible option, it is just difficult to understand the implications when we implant them in the already existing infrastructure. Like tanks, electrical cabling, space for hydrogen etc” Enoch responded that indeed storage needs to be a strong consideration and stressed that if it is transported in from off-site highly trained staff need to be employed to safely maintain this. From an Uptime Institute point of view, it will only be viewed as non-utility if it is stored on-site and meets the minimum storage capacity of 12-hour and should be in line with the Tier Certification in question.

Another member wanted to know if the industry is ready for large scale deployment of fuel cells. Enoch responded that this is dependant on the amount of IT Load deployed, it will not be suitable at this time for large IT Loads, but fuel cell technology is continuously improving.

And this cam to maybe the biggest concern for those on the call, and the industry, are fuel cells, as well as all other alternatives, at a point that they are ready to be used. Fuel cells specific, Enoch reaffirmed that it could work, but it will be expensive at this point to implement to the scale that will ensure the same availability.

Reiterating how important the general topic of sustainability is, one member gave an update from their organisation that they are getting rid of generators altogether. His opinion was that there needs to be a larger conversation around the placement of Datacenters, to make use of natural renewables available, thereby getting rid of the need for engine-generators. Also there needs to be redundancy built in at a soft level, negating the need for it at infrastructure level. However, another wanted to raise the point that some industries rely on the latency of inner-city locations.

There followed a discussion around the influence that operators can have on their customers regarding their demands for back-up engine-generators, and further to how the Datacenter industry can influence governments in regard to Green energy. This is a conversation that will come up many times, but David Mytton stressed that if the industry does not set the guidelines the governments will.

To conclude Enoch gave an update on how Uptime Institute will view Datacenters alternative fuel provisions:-:
First and foremost – mains utility power supplies must be viewed as an economic alternative for which data centres must be prepared.
Alternative Fuel Provisions must be provided on-site, be located within the data center site boundaries and its maintenance and operations must come under the responsibility of the data center management.
A minimum of 12-hours fuel storage must also be provide on-site. The fuel storage must meet the requirements of the Tier Certification in question.