Schneider Electric will provide energy efficiency technologies in the first data center in the world with positive environmental impact, which will be built in the town of Falun in Sweden, said a press release sent to energynomics.ro.
The electricity that powers the data center comes only from renewable sources: solar, wind and hydropower, and secondary biofuels. EcoDataCenter will be connected to the local power system, which has been recognized as one of the best in the world by Global District Energy Climate Awards New York in 2013. The excess heat from servers and IT equipment will heat the buildings of Falun through the local heating system. During summer, excess steam from the power plant will supply the local air-conditioning machines of the data center.
EcoDataCenter was initiated by Falun city power company – Falu Energi & Vatten, in collaboration with Swedish entrepreneurial company EcoDC AB.
“Information Technology and Communications (IT & C) has a very high potential in terms of energy efficiency, this sector consumes up to 10% of electricity in the world. This consumption is reflected in the increase cost of energy destined for data centers, the main routes of communication and the cloud community. A single data center can consume more power than a medium-sized city”, Schneider officials say.
Much of this energy is not even used, but simply released as heat in the atmosphere, contributing to global and local warming. Currently, there are over three million data centers worldwide, and a series of reports in the field estimate that the combined emissions of carbon dioxide from these data centers will exceed in only five years the emissions of aviation industry.
“We live in an era where increasingly more people are concerned about the effects of data centers on the environment. However, internet penetration and the Internet of things can be developed without harming the environment. Security and IT performances are also becoming increasingly important for companies and organizations. Therefore, we are very proud to help create this pioneering data center. EcoDataCenter is a model for green data centers, showing how profitable it is to have an innovative thinking”, said Marc Nezet, Country Manager for Schneider Electric Sweden.
“The collaboration between the data center and the local heating system will ensure emission reduction to the extent that EcoDataCenter will have a negative carbon footprint in a year. We link the data center at an already sustainable system, which can use all the energy. Thus, we build world’s first data center with positive environmental impact”, says Bengt Gustafsson, CEO at Falu Energi & Vatten.
“With EcoDataCenter, we proved that being more ‘green’ means being less expensive. This project is significantly more energy efficient than conventional data centers and the integration with local heating and cooling system involves use of energy which, in other circumstances, it is wasted. This reduces costs both for us and for our customers”, adds Børge Granli, one of the founders of EcoDC AB.
