: Tencent unveils new microgrid project at Chinese data center

Chinese tech giant Tencent this week officially launched a new microgrid project at its Tencent Tianjin High-Tech Cloud Data Center in China, which it says generates enough solar energy to power 6,000 households. Tencent notes that it has installed 10.54MW of solar panels, which will be capable of producing 12 million KWh of electricity annually, which is enough to power 6,000 houses, according to the company.

A Tencent statement reads, “With the introduction of green energy sources such as solar and wind, managing and coordinating data centers has become more complex. We need to monitor energy-source operations, forecast electricity needs based on weather and usage, and even offer energy-saving recommendations. That's why we've developed an AI- and machine-learning-enabled control system in Tianjin, allowing us to process data from multiple energy sources and predict future electricity demand and generation. It's like a cockpit for managing electricity in the data center, removing the guesswork.”

The company, which aims to become carbon neutral by 2030, claims renewable energy accounts for 54 percent of annual electricity consumption in its data centers, with more than 70 percent of its self-built campuses using green power.