Massive growth forecasts for data centres globally. Cogeneration of electricity, heating and cooling is well placed to meet growing demand for the sector delivering cost effective, resilient, low carbon and renewable power. Learn more in this report from the Cogen World Coalition.
Cogeneration is well placed to meet the growing energy demand from data centres worldwide 🌍 (Press Release - 13 November 2024) According to a new report published by the COGEN World Coalition, the global growth and spread of data centres creates a significant opportunity for companies involved in cogeneration – also known as combined heat and power (CHP). This is because cogeneration represents a reliable and efficient means of providing all the electricity that a data centre needs, plus a continuous supply of heat, which can be used to drive absorption chillers that provide the cooling capacity required to prevent servers and other equipment from overheating. The newly-published report 'Meeting the energy needs of Data Centres: What role for cogeneration?' was produced for the COGEN World Coalition by Challoch Energy. This comprehensive report brings together relevant data and information from a wide range sources including the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the European Commission. According to the report, there are almost 11,000 data centre locations worldwide, and nearly half of these are in the USA. Depending on its size, a Data Centre can consume as much as 100 MW of electricity, or more. Half of this power is used for cooling, in order to maintain a temperature below 25 degrees Celsius at all times. Due to trends such as automation and AI (Artificial Intelligence), we can expect to see a doubling of energy demand for data centres around the world by 2027. The rapid expansion of data centres presents a significant challenge to energy utilities. Data centres need a consistent and reliable supply of power, 24 hours per day and 365 days per year, and consequently national and regional electricity grids will come under increased pressure. The use of cogeneration to provide electricity and cooling capacity for data centres is currently limited but has significant potential for growth as the industry seeks more efficient and sustainable energy solutions. The benefits of cogeneration in the context of data centres include: ✅ Significant cost savings when cogeneration is used as the primary source of power, with heat recovered and used to drive absorption chillers that provide continuous cooling without adding to electricity demand. ✅ Flexibility in the design and operation of a data centre, facilitating expansion and development without depending on regional/national electricity grids. ✅ Enhanced energy efficiency and reduced energy consumption, leading to lower emissions of greenhouse gases. ✅ Improved reliability, resilience and energy security. When cogeneration technology is used to provide electricity, heating and cooling, we can also refer to ‘trigeneration’ or CCHP (combined cooling, heat and power). See the full Press Release ➡ https://bit.ly/CWC-PR09 #datacentre #datacentres #datacenter #datacenters #AI #cogeneration #CHP #trigeneration #CCHP #energyefficiency