Sustainable electrical solutions for data centers

Sustainable electrical solutions emerge to guarantee a stable, efficient energy supply with smaller carbon footprint for data centers

We live in a hyperconnected society where the instant exchange of data has become a fundamental but unconscious part of our daily lives. Conversations via instant messaging services, online transactions and purchases, emails, work, secure Internet browsing, and audiovisual consumption have become commonplace for 6 out of 10 people on this planet. However, all our daily activity carries a data footprint that, without adequate security and management, can be as dangerous as it is unstable. This is precisely where data centers come in, whose function is to store and protect all our data (and that of many more people and entities), as well as guarantee the availability of access to third-party data (websites, applications, etc.). This occurs in facilities that have all the necessary technological support to guarantee their availability for use 99.9999% of the time. These data centers naturally have a complex electrical network at their disposal so that, regardless of any problems external to the facility, the power supply is guaranteed at all times. A network on whose correct functioning the availability of such a huge amount of data for end users depends.

The large amount of data we handle every day – it is estimated that a total of 59 exabytes were exchanged in 2023 compared to 48 the previous year or 32 in 2020 in the midst of the pandemic – and the requirement for full availability of these has turned the data center sector into a significant consumer of electrical energy and, therefore, a significant generator of the carbon footprint, with all that this entails at all levels. Figures show that data centers consume around 200 TWh of energy per year, a figure that is expected to increase 15-fold by 2030, accounting for 8% of the world’s electricity consumption. Impressive, isn’t it?

Therefore, data centers are undergoing a complete conversion, both in terms of their service structure and electrical infrastructure. Whether they are old facilities in service or future projects, the main operators are increasingly considering the incorporation of sustainable electrical solutions to help reduce the significant footprint of this human activity on the environment and thus guarantee their long-term sustainability. But what do we mean by sustainable electrical solutions for data centers? Let’s find out. As you know, the electrical energy we consume is obtained from different sources—renewable or not—and transported, transformed, and distributed in different stages until it reaches the points of consumption. In this great journey, which far from being linear is more like a gigantic spider web, energy runs through different networks and technological devices that we know as electrical switchgear, elements of high technological value that are also present in private electrical networks such as those of data centers and whose efficiency and operation guarantee that of the energy-demanding equipment to which they are connected.

As such, and as we see in the previous infographic, the configuration of the electrical system of a data center requires a series of electrical switchgear equipment such as secondary distribution cells, electrical transformers, low voltage panels, protection and automation systems, uninterruptible power supplies, energy storage systems or generator sets. The sum of all these elements together in a complex electrical network – to guarantee the energy supply even if the public distribution network suffers a blackout – makes this a very sensitive part of these facilities.

Furthermore, like the generation of the energy itself, the type of technology used by this switchgear can help reduce the carbon footprint of a data center’s activity. This is how we come to our protagonists today: sustainable electrical solutions for data centers.

Sustainable solutions for connecting Data Centers, what are they?

The constructive and operational footprint of electrical solutions depends on the type of materials (both in terms of typology and life cycle, recyclability, etc.), technology (cutting using industrial natural air and/or fluorinated gases), operational capacity in overvoltages (allowing peaks above their nominal characteristics) and size (amount of surface area and materials required). Thus, electrical switchgear has developed two great allies to reduce the operational carbon footprint of data centers:

Fluorinated gas-free distribution cells

Electrical distribution cells –whose complexity and technological development make them a key element- could be defined as large current switches that cut off or let the electrical energy flow; protecting both the electrical equipment and the facility itself to which they are associated, in this case the data center.

These cells mostly use a cutting technology based on fluorinated gases, whose use is widespread throughout the electrical industry as a dielectric solution to ensure the safe use and handling of this equipment. This GIS (Gas Insulated Switchgear) technology has been fundamental to the industry for decades, guaranteeing both the security of the electrical supply and that of network operators, as well as the tightness of the gas and its recovery after the end of the product’s useful life, and is now evolving towards a scenario where alternatives to SF6 must take over. The reason? Reduce the environmental impact of these solutions.

This is where insulation using natural industrial air comes in, a technology developed by Ormazabal, among other manufacturers, which uses the gases present in the atmosphere to, after an industrialization phase, serve as insulation for the distribution cells, banishing the presence of humidity in the environment and ensuring proper insulation to avoid power surges or electric arcs.

What are its main advantages?

• Industrial natural air: Gas of natural origin with zero carbon footprint. Industrially manufactured with fully accessible components.
• Minimum filling pressure: Both the tightness and the behavior throughout the entire useful life are completely known and tested.
• Digital native: Conceived from the beginning with integrated sensors and automation.
• Operation and use: The innovative switch-disconnector design together with the proven vacuum breaking technology of the circuit breaker make the equipment very easy to operate. Dimensions: Optimized dimensions to have a similar footprint.

Smart liquid dielectric transformers

The job of electrical transformers is to reduce the voltage coming from the electrical grid from medium to low, allowing it to be distributed by the low voltage panels for consumption in the data center. Thus, the arrival of new smart transformers such as the transforma.smart from Ormazabal has marked a before and after for the sector.

Let’s look at the main advantages of liquid dielectric transformers here:

• They guarantee greater installation safety thanks to:
  • Better performance under high loads
  • Greater resistance to heating

  • Greater durability and support for overloads and voltage transients

• They reduce installation and maintenance costs:
  • They do not require a protective enclosure
  • They obtain greater cooling without the need for accessories
  • They produce lower service losses
  • Longer useful life thanks to the replacement of the liquid dielectric

  • Lower TCO (total cost of ownership)

• They are, unequivocally, more sustainable:
  • Lower acoustic impact during use (lower level of induction and insulation of the dielectric liquid)
  • Less possibility of being affected by adverse weather conditions (floods, storms, etc.) thanks to lower environmental sensitivity
  • LCA (life cycle assessment) with a lower impact in the global warming potential category (carbon footprint)
  • Greater efficiency during the use phase, representing the main impact of the LCA (90% of the total)

  • With load indices higher than those contemplated in the LCA, it is shown even better performance thanks to higher energy efficiency (lower losses)

Did you know about this true revolution in electrical solutions for data centers?

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