T-Systems Partners with Fraunhofer IFF on green data centre project

Project to explore of 98 different approaches to reducing CO2 footprint of two data centres

T-Systems, a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom, has announced a sustainability research project at its data centres in Biere and Magdeburg. In a partnership with Fraunhofer IFF, the companies will explore a variety of measures to improve data centre sustainability with the long-term goal of creating a sustainable data centre: powered solely by CO2-neutral energy.

The new partnership between T-Systems and Fraunhofer IFF intends to explore the interactions of renewable energy, creative storage solutions, and flexible customer usage to create a fully-functional, sustainable data centre.

Johannes Krafczyk, of T-Systems, noted that data centres focus high energy consumption at few locations. “The impact of CO2 reduction measures and technologies is therefore potentially very high,” with the company setting an ambitious goal of a “net-zero energy data center.”

Stage one of the Biere and Magdeburg project involves exploration of 98 different approaches to reduce the CO2 footprint of the two data centres: including wind power, photovoltaics, and new approaches to cooling, heat recovery and server efficiency. The company projects that in the first stage, they may achieve self-sufficiency of up to 50%, along with a CO2 savings of up to 20,000 tons per year.

Stage two involves exploring the practical applications of the information garnered during stage one.

Dirk Kabelitz, T-Systems Manager of Datacenter for Germany East and Asia, noted that some applications have already been explored by the company. “We are currently examining the feasibility and economic viability of specific measures, such as the use of waste heat. Likewise, we are investigating self-supply from sustainable energy sources.”

Generally housed in enormous facilities requiring power for hardware, temperature control, processing, security systems – data centres consume an enormous amount of energy. Making data centres more energy-efficient has long been a goal in the industry. Optimising energy efficiency not only reduces the environmental impact of data centres it also reduces the burden on local power grids and helps owner-operators control recurring costs.

In 2021, crisis management and redundancy plans are a high priority in the data centre industry. Building a self-sufficient data centre reduces reliance on outside suppliers, helping companies to manage vulnerabilities and reduce risk.