Research group Omdia recently published a survey on data centers and its ability to support the electric grid. The research revealed that within the next four years, data center operators will deploy uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) able to interact with the electric grid, supporting essential energy-management initiatives.
In this survey, Omdia surveyed 380 participants including data center operators, engineering, architecture, consulting firms, and utility companies, spanning across North America, the Nordics, UK, Ireland, France, Germany, and Australia. The respondents outlined that the main driver for adopting smart grid ready UPS is “contributing to sustainability initiatives.” Moreover, 77% were either confident or very confident that using smart grid ready UPS will not put their mission critical workloads at risk. Likewise the majority (80%) of respondents estimated that 10-50% of the capacity of batteries could be used to support the electric grid enabling the integration of variable renewable energy sources into the electric grid. Solar and wind were also pinned as the two microgrid applications to benefit most from this technology.
Moises Levy, PhD, Principal Analyst and lead of Omdia’s data center power, cooling and sustainability research practice: “The integration of renewable energy into the smart electric grid can benefit from smart grid ready UPS, to smooth out the unpredictability of renewable resources, balancing energy supply and demand, and to reduce or defer electric grid infrastructure investment. Manufacturers like Eaton, Schneider Electric, and Vertiv are already offering UPSs with these capabilities.”
