IT Infra webinar 2021: Where sustainability and data centers came together

On Thursday 20 May, the IT Infra webinar took place where a lot of attention was given to sustainability. The benefits of greening in the data industry were discussed extensively. Delta Electronics, ABB, Rittal and Vertiv gave their vision on trends from the market.

By Frank van de Ven

Freek van Alphen, Jan van de Maat and Ed van Minnen from ABB kicked off the webinar. In their lecture they discussed:Smart energy measurement is worth its weight in gold' delved deeper into the possibilities for improvement around energy consumption in data centers and computer rooms. “Based on hard figures, you can make a big difference in the energy consumption in any building, especially in a data center,” Van de Maat explained. “For example, the latest technology makes it possible to collect and monitor data.”

According to Van Alphen, there are three trends. The first is the measurement and registration of energy consumption. The second development is the risk of grid instability. A third trend is the use of energy as a means of trade. “A development that we are currently fully involved in is the reduction of CO2 emissions. Another trend is electrification. Electric driving is gaining popularity every day, the share of fossil fuels is decreasing and investments in solar and wind energy will also continue to grow. These adjustments to the Dutch grid should prevent the power grid from experiencing instability.”

Tax arrangement
In the webinar 'Double benefit with Energy Investment Deduction in data centers and server and computer rooms' Elbert Raben and Marc Corbeek of Rittal BV highlighted the Energy Investment Deduction (EIA). This government tax scheme supports companies in investments in the field of energy conservation, among other things. Entrepreneurs who use EIA benefit from lower energy costs and tax reduction.

In the webinar, the duo explained which IT-related assets are eligible for the EIA. “For the ICT sector, this scheme is very interesting, because they learn which products from suppliers of components such as cooling units and UPSs are eligible for the EIA,” Raben explained.

Steering mechanism
The demand for sustainable energy is growing and that can cause problems when it comes to energy supply. Bart Nieuwenhuis and his colleague Ronald van Veen from Vertiv threw in the presentation 'Dynamic Grid Support' a look at the possibilities of grid services and fast frequency response. Thanks to these services, grid operators can have sufficient control capacity at all times to keep supply and demand on the electricity grid in balance, even during peak times.

Another advantage of grid services is that overcapacity is a thing of the past. “Normally, energy is lost with overcapacity and that costs money. By using control capacity and buffering the energy in the UPS (battery), this energy is saved for a later stage,” Van Veen concluded.

Software solution
Energy savings and working more efficiently are challenges that facility managers of data centers face. In the presentation 'Data centers: Transit point for green energy' Mandy Ho and Ross Peringuey from Delta Electronics on this matter.

Delta Electronics developed the Delta InfraSuite Manager (DCIM). This system offers a software solution that enables data centers to save energy. “Because the system monitors advanced algorithms, facility managers can intervene in time during emergencies and prevent downtime,” says Ho.

IT Infrastructure Industry Group
The IT Infra sector group is a collective of companies within the FHI Industrial Electronics sector that profile themselves as specialized providers.