Commercial, Microgrids, Sourcing Renewables  -  August 13, 2020

DataBank to supplement Atlanta data center with new microgrid

DataBank announced Aug. 12 that they installed a microgrid, featuring a natural gas and diesel generator, energy cells and a battery bank, at their ATL1 data center in midtown Atlanta.

The microgrid was the result of a partnership between Georgia Power, Southern Company R&D, The Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) and DataBank. The system will provide backup power to the data center in case of a power failure, in addition to 1.5 MW in standalone power for the Georgia Institute of Technology’s High-Performance Computer Center (HPCC), which is housed in ATL1.

“The microgrid is a ‘smart grid’ in effect as it can sense the capacity and power needed for the HPCC, and adjust automatically, for both optimum power consumption as well as cost-effectiveness,” Neal Bryant, Facilities Manager of ATL1, said in a statement. “The combination of mechanical equipment like cooling towers and mechanical pumping, along with IT infrastructure allows for varying loads during testing. The microgrid senses those varying loads and exports power accordingly.”

As the anchor tenant of the ATL1 data center, Georgia Tech’s HPCC will benefit from reduced costs of powering their energy-heavy peak hours and will receive energy from the microgrid as needed to meet its capacity.

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