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Both of our datacentres have their own rooftop solar arrays which is merged with grid-power to feed the building. On a bright sunny day we can generate upto 50Kw of power. Because datacentre power varies widely based on load, at times we use zero grid-power.
We have invested heavily in the latest HPE hardware which uses considerably less power, produce less heat and responds quickly to demand. Using HPE also means that we can collect realtime
power consumption and load data to our central monitoring system.
Our AI workload clusters operate on Nvidia A100 GPU's which are power and heat efficient furthering our commitment. In the last
financial year 22% of our total power useage was in AI and machine learning.
The cooling system employed at our datacenters utilises a combination of forced air and a closed-loop liquid cooling system to manage the thermal load effectively. The system operates as follows:
Ambient air from outside is drawn into the datacenter using high-capacity blowers. This air passes through heat exchangers where it absorbs heat from the liquid cooling system.
The heat exchangers are critical components that facilitate the transfer of heat between the liquid coolant and the incoming air. When the external temperature is above 16c, heat pumps are engaged to increase the transfer of heat.
The closed-loop system circulates a liquid coolant through the data center's equipment. The coolant absorbs heat from the server racks and then flows to the heat exchangers. The closed-loop nature of the system means that the coolant is continuously recirculated, preventing any loss of coolant and ensuring consistent thermal management.
The system is designed to maintain a high flow rate of air and liquid coolant. This high flow rate ensures that the temperature difference between the intake and output air is minimal, typically only a few degrees. This is achieved by optimising the heat exchanger design to maximise the surface area for heat transfer and ensuring turbulent flow conditions, which enhance convective heat transfer.
The efficiency of the heat exchangers and the high flow rate of the cooling mediums ensure that the output air temperature is only marginally higher than the intake air temperature. The flow rate, and the contribution of heat pumps is controlled automatically by a computer control system that is capable of monitoring power use across the datacentre, predicting workload and making pre-emptive changes to increase efficiency.
We use a number of eco-friendly grid power suppliers to power our datacentres, buying only 100% green power, and due to the premium we pay, investing in future green power initiatives in the UK. The UK currently produces almost half of its electricity from renewable sources, and that is set to increase significantly in the coming years.
This data is pulled in near realtime from the national grid's API. Even though we're paying for 100% green power, we, and every other business is forced to pay the generation cost of the orange rows. See our The UK Business Energy Market blog post.
| Source | Generation | Percentage | |
| Fossil Gas | 6.56 GW | 23.30% | ▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉ |
| Wind Offshore | 5.94 GW | 21.11% | ▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉ |
| Nuclear | 4.82 GW | 17.12% | ▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉▉ |
| Wind Onshore | 3.91 GW | 13.88% | ▉▉▉▉▉▉▉ |
| Solar | 3.08 GW | 10.96% | ▉▉▉▉▉ |
| Biomass | 2.75 GW | 9.77% | ▉▉▉▉▉ |
| Other | 602.00 MW | 2.14% | ▉ |
| Hydro Run-of-river and poundage | 359.00 MW | 1.28% | ▉ |
| Hydro Pumped Storage | 123.00 MW | 0.44% |
Our UPS systems operate in passive mode rather than online, and we use large energy capacitors at the end of each row to provide about 2 seconds of power in the event of a failure, giving our UPS's plenty of time to switch to battery backup. Once we've switched to battery power, our generators will start automatically and after reaching normalisation, the UPS's will switch from battery to generator power. By keeping our UPS capacity relatively small we can greatly reduce the amount of Lead, and increase the life of the batteries, further contributing to the environment. At end-of-life, which is approximately 5 years, we pay for our batteries to be recycled through clarity.
We work tirelessly to ensure that everything we do is carbon neutral. Our power is green, our buildings are heavily insulated, we consume almost zero water and produce almost no waste. Data centres traditionally have a very poor carbon footprint, with massive cooling and power requirements, yet GEN demonstrates that service providers can be green and sustainable. We have committed to the EUDCA climate pact, The GDA, and the SME Climate Hub.
Our PUE was 1.18 for the last year up to 2024-04-01 which is our lowest yet, and I would say the lowest of any datacentre in the UK, and we are on target to beat this in the current year (at time of writing).
Host your servers, virtualise, and deploy your AI workloads with GEN to support our commitment, and be part of the big change towards a better tomorrow.
We are firmly committed to our eco-profile, and will continue to invest in future green technologies across the board, from more energy efficient hardware, to more efficient power and cooling systems, and more. We can't know what technological advances will be available in the future, but if its green, then GEN will be part of it.
If we can generate sufficient interest, our energy providers are prepared to offer a group discount on energy, fixed for 12 months or more to secure cheaper energy (Gas/Electric) and water for the duration. If this is something you would be interested in, simply register your interest to be included with no obligation to take up the deal.
