Equinix uses Bloom Energy fuel cells to power Silicon Valley data center



    A growing number of telecommunications companies are switching to alternative energy sources. Someone does this under the influence of the public, someone else to diversify the main sources of energy supply. Equinix decided to install Bloom Energy fuel cells that run on biogas in its Silicon Valley data center. The initial project involves the installation of a 1 MW station in the SV5 data center. It is expected that fuel cells will be able to provide 8.3 million kWh of energy per year.

    Equinix is ​​now about to completely switch to renewable energy, and is making significant efforts to achieve this goal. Currently, DC companies receive about 30% of energy from alternative sources, including fuel cells, solar energy, etc. As for fuel cells, their advantage is the use of biogas , which is produced from organic residues. Now the main task of the Bloom power station is to maintain the energy infrastructure of the DC at a constant level, for example, during problems in the main network.



    How does it all work?


    Bloom Energy uses proprietary technology in its fuel cells. This technology allows you to get energy from atmospheric air and biogas, with waste in the form of water and a small amount of carbon dioxide.

    According to Equinix, the use of alternative energy sources will help attract new customers who will like the idea of ​​working with renewable energy sources. At the same time, the system helps to save the company itself, although the details of such savings are not disclosed. Nevertheless, the decrease in operating expenses is quite significant, because in the same California (after all, Equinix DC is located in Silicon Valley) biogas is a much cheaper source of energy than the state’s energy system itself. This is the reason why Bloom Energy products are becoming increasingly popular in California and regions where energy is just as expensive.



    Who else?


    In addition to Equinix, Bloom Energy fuel cells are used by Apple (a data center in North Carolina), DC eBay in Utah and some other companies. KingServers already mentioned CenturyLink with its Bloom fuel cell power station on its blog.

    Interestingly, now more and more customers (large and small) of telecommunication companies are paying attention to the type of energy that the company uses to supply its DCs and equipment. Why this happens is a different question, but the trend is becoming more noticeable.

    Microsoft Corporation opened a data center in Wyoming, the energy for which is produced in biogas plants (the source of biogas is the local water treatment plant). As a result, the corporation saves significant money by refusing to work with the local energy infrastructure (energy in the state also costs a lot of money). “The main difference between our project and the traditional power supply scheme is the production of energy inside the data center, instead of connecting the data center to the energy infrastructure of any region. A fairly large amount of energy is now lost in the energy infrastructure of data centers, which entails financial losses, increased operating and capital costs. We show how the introduction of a small power source into the data center network infrastructure element allows us to reduce the complexity of the energy distribution project between the elements of the entire system ”,

    According to the developers of Bloom, their fuel cells can replace both the UPS and the backup generator. Well, the installation result is manifested very quickly - here is the loyalty of those customers who like the “green” idea, and savings in operating costs, and the ability to work with a greater degree of autonomy, without 100% dependence on the local energy infrastructure.

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