Data Center Handbook

31Smart Grid-Responsive Data Centers

Girish Ghatikar, Mary Ann Piette, and Venkata Vish Ganti

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA

31.1 Introduction and Context for Grid-Responsive Data Centers

Since 2008, the Industrial Demand Response (DR) Team of the Demand Response Research Center (DRRC) at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) has been evaluating DR opportunities in industrial facilities [1] and their ability to be grid responsive. This initial research included collecting and analyzing data on recommended DR strategies included in utility integrated audits and evaluating the applicability of these strategies for use in automated demand response programs (known as AutoDR). These programs use OpenADR, a national Smart Grid standard for DR and distributed energy resources. OpenADR refers to the use of an open standard for communicating DR prices and signals, which allows utilities or energy service providers to send common signals to facilities [2]. The facility controls are preprogrammed to respond to these signals. The team supported a number of California electric utilities and their contractors in identifying potential automated industrial DR participants and provided technical assistance in evaluating DR sites. The team also conducted in-depth analyses of industrial sectors that appeared to have good AutoDR potential and analyzed their DR technical capacity. In 2008, the DRRC selected data center facilities as a focus for new research because ...