With a new Uptime Institute report indicating that power remains the number one root cause of data centre outages, energy solutions provider Aggreko is calling attention to how data centres can begin reducing reliance on the grid, and in turn work towards greater energy resilience.
The Uptime Institute’s Annual Outage Analysis 2024 details power as the leading cause of impactful incidents or outages among its respondents, and was cited by more than the rest of the options combined at 52%. This ranks far ahead of other significant factors such as cooling and third-party providers, at 19% and 9% respectively.
With grid instability across a number of European nations contributing significantly to power failures, Billy Durie, Global Sector Head of Data Centres at Aggreko, is signposting how data centre operators can begin reducing their reliance on local power infrastructure. He explains, “Grid issues are by no means a new phenomenon in Europe and are showing no signs of disappearing any time soon. Given the prevalence of power-related outages in the Uptime Institute’s latest survey, there is no doubt that grid issues are playing into this challenge.
“The need to reduce reliance on the grid is clear, but it’s important to know where to start. Here, integrating on-site generation allows data centres to begin taking power provision into their own hands. In practice, this allows operators to supplement their energy supply when the grid wanes, and in turn avoid a potentially costly outage.”
Aggreko’s recent two-part whitepaper, Uptime on the Line, explores the challenges facing the data centre sector in full, and also highlights grid shortages as a key issue. For example, in the Netherlands, as many as 47% of those surveyed believed that the local grid and energy infrastructure was “not very able” or “not very able at all” to meet demand for the sector over the next five years.
In recognition of this challenge, the report then goes on to highlight a number of tactical and strategic solutions. This includes hybrid generation with Stage-V generators and hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO), and battery energy storage systems (BESS). Investment in these technologies is a core pillar of Aggreko’s recently launched sustainability framework, Energising Change, which aims to help large energy users address power challenges while simultaneously embracing greener practice.
Billy concludes, “While power remains a major test for the European data centre market, the good news is that there are now a number of innovative solutions to help combat this challenge. Whether in the form of bridging solutions to facilitate an infrastructure upgrade, or back-up power to ward against outages, there are many measures data centres can take to safeguard their power supply.
“Whether this comes in the form of hybrid generation, BESS, or something else entirely, this helps reduce reliance on the grid through on-site generation; which, in turn, will minimise power-related outages moving forward.”
For more from Aggreko, click here.
The post Aggreko signposts route to mitigating Outage Analysis figures appeared first on Data Centre & Network News.
With a new Uptime Institute report indicating that power remains the number one root cause of data centre outages, energy solutions provider Aggreko is calling attention to how data centres can begin reducing reliance on the grid, and in turn work towards greater energy resilience.
The Uptime Institute’s Annual Outage Analysis 2024 details power as the leading cause of impactful incidents or outages among its respondents, and was cited by more than the rest of the options combined at 52%. This ranks far ahead of other significant factors such as cooling and third-party providers, at 19% and 9% respectively.
With grid instability across a number of European nations contributing significantly to power failures, Billy Durie, Global Sector Head of Data Centres at Aggreko, is signposting how data centre operators can begin reducing their reliance on local power infrastructure. He explains, “Grid issues are by no means a new phenomenon in Europe and are showing no signs of disappearing any time soon. Given the prevalence of power-related outages in the Uptime Institute’s latest survey, there is no doubt that grid issues are playing into this challenge.
“The need to reduce reliance on the grid is clear, but it’s important to know where to start. Here, integrating on-site generation allows data centres to begin taking power provision into their own hands. In practice, this allows operators to supplement their energy supply when the grid wanes, and in turn avoid a potentially costly outage.”
Aggreko’s recent two-part whitepaper, Uptime on the Line, explores the challenges facing the data centre sector in full, and also highlights grid shortages as a key issue. For example, in the Netherlands, as many as 47% of those surveyed believed that the local grid and energy infrastructure was “not very able” or “not very able at all” to meet demand for the sector over the next five years.
In recognition of this challenge, the report then goes on to highlight a number of tactical and strategic solutions. This includes hybrid generation with Stage-V generators and hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO), and battery energy storage systems (BESS). Investment in these technologies is a core pillar of Aggreko’s recently launched sustainability framework, Energising Change, which aims to help large energy users address power challenges while simultaneously embracing greener practice.
Billy concludes, “While power remains a major test for the European data centre market, the good news is that there are now a number of innovative solutions to help combat this challenge. Whether in the form of bridging solutions to facilitate an infrastructure upgrade, or back-up power to ward against outages, there are many measures data centres can take to safeguard their power supply.
“Whether this comes in the form of hybrid generation, BESS, or something else entirely, this helps reduce reliance on the grid through on-site generation; which, in turn, will minimise power-related outages moving forward.”
For more from Aggreko, click here.
The post Aggreko signposts route to mitigating Outage Analysis figures appeared first on Data Centre & Network News.