The UK’s first operational data centre to be powered entirely using on-site green energy has taken a step closer to completion with the commencement of installation of anaerobic digester plant and biomass generators at the Infinity ONE campus in East Anglia. The dark green energy produced will be delivered directly to client data halls.
Martin Lynch, CEO, Infinity SDC said; “the introduction of the Energy Act 2008 and its anticipated effect upon businesses is forcing innovation in the way data centres are operated. The ability to provide assured IT services with little or no carbon emission is becoming increasingly important to companies with large energy usage who will be affected by the Cap and Trade scheme which the Government is introducing. Today, the use of Green energy is not just a matter of conscience but a pragmatic financial and tax decision for CFOs.”
Situated within easy access of the main arterial routes to the City of London and with excellent fibre connectivity, the Infinity ONE campus provides up to 14,000m2 technical space in client-dedicated 500m2 data halls. Each will support power density from 1,000W/m2 to 2,500W/m2 with sufficient cooling capacity to ensure reliable and efficient operation. The data halls are laid out in a hot aisle/ cold aisle configuration; fresh-air cooling combines with the option for ground-source heat pumps to allow even greater energy and cost savings.
Martin Lynch said; “the Infinity ONE development proves that 21st Century data centres can be deployed with little environmental impact. The data centre and its dark green power source are surrounded by the farmland that supply them and provide a significant enhancement in income to the local agricultural community as well as providing organic nutrient to our diminishing soil quality – it’s a truly virtuous circle which supports two sectors which are vital to UK PLC.”
The new system enables dark green energy to be generated from bio-matter supplied by a local farming co-operative. The bio-matter is broken down in an Anaerobic Digester providing two by-products; methane and a nutrient rich “digestate”. The gas is used as fuel for the highly efficient CHP plant, while the fertiliser is returned to condition agricultural land. An advantageous fit between crop cycles means that both food and fuel can be produced on the same local farmland without degradation of the soil’s organic composition.
Infinity ONE is the UK’s first carbon neutral data centre campus and the site was specifically selected for its potential to support biomass, ground source and solar power generation. The project utilises re-purposed existing, highly secure buildings, as client-specific data centres further reducing the carbon impact which would have been created through demolition, waste disposal and the erection of new structures.
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About Infinity
Infinity SDC provides a unique, outsourced data centre design, build and operations service to private and public sector organisations. Focused on measuring Total Cost of Ownership Infinity’s service contracts, enable businesses to take full advantage of lower operating costs at a time when capital is highly constrained.
The company is fully committed to reducing both the energy waste and the carbon footprint of the IT sector and has adopted recommendations within the EU Code of Conduct on Data Centre Energy Efficiency. Working in partnership with local agriculturalists, planning permission has been obtained for a sustainable, biomass-fuelled data centre campus using dark green energy generation on site at its Infinity ONE location.
Infinity TWOis possibly the last major data centre development to be able to comply with current planning requirements inside the M25. This major development in excess of 100,000 square feet of technical space provides Tier 3 data centre capacity in a readily accessible location being just 15 minutes from Liverpool Street station but away from all risks including flooding.
Both sites are located along major telecoms carrier’s main fibre routes to Central London and utilise common design standards to provide with dedicated and resilient M&E systems to each of Infinity’s customers. Together with high levels of physical security, the provision of independent power and cooling infrastructure helps ensure availability of IT services to all of Infinity’s customers.
Infinity SDC is funded by leading private banks having raised in excess of £23.5 million in recent funding round and holds assets of over 300,000ft2 for data centre development within the South East. Please visit www.infinitysdc.com for more information.
Press Contacts:
Damien Wells
SPA Communications
dwells@spacomms.co.uk |
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