In a bid to veer away from fossil fuels, global data center and colocation provider Equinix has announced a collaboration with the Centre for Energy Research & Technology (CERT) under the National University of Singapore to explore new ways to enable hydrogen use as a sustainable energy source for “mission-critical” data center infrastructure.
Equinix became the first data center to commit to becoming carbon neutrality by 2030, announcing in 2021 its plans for the company’s entire global footprint to become climate neutral; investing a total of $45 million (US) in energy efficiency projects.
The project marks one of the first to pursue the study of proton-exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells and alternative generator technologies as a potential backup energy source for data centers.
The joint study assessed the reliability, costs, operational conditions and the environmental impact of various power supplies; evaluating the outcome based on technicalities such as limitations in temperature, efficiency, start-up times, total ownership costs, fuel flexibility and net present cost.
With the ever-increasing global demand for internet services, new development in energy sources for data centers is critical as they consume an estimated 1 to 1.5% of global electricity usage.
Due to its proven efficiency as an energy carrier, with a low-carbon footprint created during usage Hydrogen has been dubbed as a strong potential source for future integration and investment.
Complications arise when assessing the economic viability of the energy source however, as high costs remain a considerable barrier to the widespread adoption of green hydrogen as a sustainable solution.
The research conducted by the National University of Singapore ultimately aims to generate breakthrough technologies to render hydrogen as a commercially viable source of energy, with the aim to position Singapore as a hydrogen economy.
The fuel source is an anticipated solution to reduce dependency on fossil fuels and non-renewable generators, as the only by-product is water. The reliability of green hydrogen power is significantly greater than renewable sources such as solar and wind, which are weather dependent and may fluctuate in efficiency and effectiveness, as such offering a strong security buffer against power shortages and outages.
A follow-up report will examine the wider costs for large-scale data centers that require higher energy demands (24 megawatts) on a continuous basis.