COUNTRY FOCUS: NETHERLANDS
“
WITH THIS ENERGY
STORAGE SYSTEM, THE JOHAN
CRUYFF ARENA IN AMSTERDAM IS
AN INTERESTING EXAMPLE OF WHAT
MIGHT BE THE FUTURE OF MANY
DATA CENTRES.
evening, the energy stored in the batteries is
sufficient to meet the energy requirements
for an hour.
If all systems are not actually switched on,
the arena can extend this period to three
hours. Outside this period, energy will have
to be taken from the grid.
It is interesting to note that it is of course
not necessary to draw maximum electrical
energy from the batteries every evening. At
times when there are no events planned,
Amsterdam Energy Arena BV can use the
storage capacity in other ways.
Think of energy services that are delivered to
the grid. This will give the local grid operator
increased and improved opportunities to
keep the grid in balance. This can be done
by temporarily storing energy from the grid
in the batteries of the arena or by drawing
energy from them and transferring that
electrical energy to the network.
Peak shaving
supply in the venues where they perform.
In too many places there are problems with
the quality and robustness of the network, in
their experience.
They prefer to bring their own diesel
generators to ensure uninterrupted power
supply during their events.
In the case of the arena, this is no longer
necessary as these artists can now call on
the battery storage.
Future for data centres
With this energy storage system, the Johan
Cruyff Arena in Amsterdam is an interesting
example of what might be the future of
many data centres. European projects such
as EV Energy and CATALYST are working
hard to enable the integration of data
centres and smart grids. Batteries and UPS
systems at the data centre are connected to
the grid via smart management software.
The advantages for grid operators are then,
of course, clear.
However, the Amsterdam Energy Arena
also provides other services; for example,
electric or hybrid cars can be charged via bi-
directional charging stations in the stadium.
But the other way around is also possible:
temporary energy storage in the batteries
of these cars. Peak shaving is also possible.
Depending on supply and demand, peaks
and troughs in energy consumption can be
absorbed by using energy from the batteries.
Peak shaving and a better organised form
of backup power is also possible.
Another remarkable application:
backup power during events.
Many major artists who give concerts in
venues such as the Amsterdam Arena
generally do not rely on the backup energy
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INTELLIGENTCIO
As with the Amsterdam Arena, they can
then use the storage capacity of a data
centre – the batteries installed there – to
help keep the network stable. Because
data centres may invest more in renewable
energy generation, they may also be able
to supply energy to the network.
Robbert Hoeffnagel of Green IT Amsterdam
Of course, this also creates interesting
opportunities for data centres. Until now,
they function on the basis of a business
model that has only one financial
pillar: selling space for processing data.
Particularly in many commercial data
centres we see that the margins on
projects of this kind tend to decline: the
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