Equinix uses Bloom Energy fuel cells to power a Silicon Valley data center

An increasing number of telecommunications companies are switching to alternative energy sources. Someone does it under the influence of the public, someone else to diversify the main sources of energy supply. The company Equinix decided to install in its data center from Silicon Valley fuel elements from Bloom Energy, which work on biogas. The initial project involves the installation of a 1 MW station in the SV5 data center. Fuel cells are expected to deliver 8.3 million kWh of energy per year.

Equinix is ​​now going to fully switch to renewable energy sources, and is making significant efforts to achieve this goal. Now DC companies get about 30% of energy from alternative sources, including fuel cells, solar energy, etc. As for fuel cells, their advantage is the work on biogas , which is produced from organic residues. Now the main task of the power plant from Bloom is to maintain the work of the energy infrastructure of the DC at a constant level, for example, during problems in the main network.


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How does all this work?

Bloom Energy uses proprietary technology in its fuel cells. This technology allows to obtain energy from atmospheric air and biogas, with waste in the form of water and a small amount of carbon dioxide.

According to Equinix, the use of alternative energy sources will help attract new customers who like the idea of ​​working with renewable energy sources. In this case, the system helps to save the company itself, although the details of such savings are not disclosed. Nevertheless, the reduction in operating expenses is quite significant, since in the same California (after all, Equinix is ​​located in Silicon Valley) biogas is a much cheaper source of energy than the state energy system itself. This is the reason why Bloom Energy products are becoming increasingly popular in California and regions where energy is just as expensive.

Who else?

In addition to Equinix, Bloom Energy fuel cells use Apple (a data center in North Carolina), eBay DC in Utah, and some other companies. About CenturyLink with the Bloom power station from fuel cells, KingServers has already mentioned in its blog.

Interestingly, now more and more customers (large and small) of telecommunication companies are paying attention to the type of energy that the company uses to supply its DC and equipment. Why this happens is a different question, but the trend is becoming increasingly noticeable.

Microsoft has opened a data center in Wyoming , the energy for which is produced in biogas plants (the source of biogas is a local water treatment plant). As a result, the corporation saves significant funds by refusing to work with the local energy infrastructure (energy in the state also costs a lot of money). “The main difference of our project from the traditional power supply scheme is the production of energy inside the data center, instead of connecting the data center to the energy infrastructure of a region. Quite a large amount of energy is now lost in the energy infrastructure of data centers, which entails financial losses, an increase in operating and capital costs. We show how the introduction of a small power source into the network infrastructure element of the data center reduces the complexity of the project of energy distribution between the elements of the entire system, ”the project participants write in the official blog.

According to the developers of Bloom, their fuel cells can replace both UPS and backup generator. Well, the installation result is manifested very quickly - here both the loyalty of those customers who like the “green” idea, and savings in operating expenses, and the ability to work with a greater degree of autonomy, without 100% dependence on the local energy infrastructure.