Data Center Handbook, 2nd Edition

21CONSIDERATION OF MICROGRIDS FOR DATA CENTERS

Richard T. Stuebi

President, Future Energy Advisors

Institute for Sustainable Energy, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America

21.1 INTRODUCTION

Data centers require large quantities of high‐quality electricity. Electricity bills for a data center can easily run in the hundreds of thousands of dollars per year.¹

Clearly, electricity is a major operational consideration for data center owners and operators. However, electricity plays a much more important role for a data center than merely being a significant line item in the annual budget.

Reliable supplies of electricity are mandatory for data center operators to offer continuous service. Data center customers have minimal tolerance for downtime, whatever the reason may be, so extra provisions are usually taken in the design of data centers to ensure that electricity is always available under any circumstances.

Even so, power outages still remain the most frequent cause of data center downtime, responsible for about one‐third of reported incidents [1].

Over the years, power system engineers have accumulated a large set of approaches to assure high‐quality/high‐reliability electricity to facilities, such as the use of uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems backed up by (usually diesel‐fueled) generators. Ongoing technology advancements in a variety of disciplines continue to expand the toolbox for providing high‐quality/high‐reliability power to customers ...