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Not All Doom and Gloom: How Energy-Intensive and Temporally Flexible Data Center Applications May Actually Promote Renewable Energy Sources

Author

Listed:
  • Gilbert Fridgen

    (University of Luxembourg
    Project Group Business and Information Systems Engineering of the Fraunhofer FIT)

  • Marc-Fabian Körner

    (Project Group Business and Information Systems Engineering of the Fraunhofer FIT
    University of Bayreuth)

  • Steffen Walters

    (University of Augsburg)

  • Martin Weibelzahl

    (Project Group Business and Information Systems Engineering of the Fraunhofer FIT
    University of Bayreuth)

Abstract

To achieve a sustainable energy system, a further increase in electricity generation from renewable energy sources (RES) is imperative. However, the development and implementation of RES entail various challenges, e.g., dealing with grid stability issues due to RES’ intermittency. Correspondingly, increasingly volatile and even negative electricity prices question the economic viability of RES-plants. To address these challenges, this paper analyzes how the integration of an RES-plant and a computationally intensive, energy-consuming data center (DC) can promote investments in RES-plants. An optimization model is developed that calculates the net present value (NPV) of an integrated energy system (IES) comprising an RES-plant and a DC, where the DC may directly consume electricity from the RES-plant. To gain applicable knowledge, this paper evaluates the developed model by means of two use-cases with real-world data, namely AWS computing instances for training Machine Learning algorithms and Bitcoin mining as relevant DC applications. The results illustrate that for both cases the NPV of the IES compared to a stand-alone RES-plant increases, which may lead to a promotion of RES-plants. The evaluation also finds that the IES may be able to provide significant energy flexibility that can be used to stabilize the electricity grid. Finally, the IES may also help to reduce the carbon-footprint of new energy-intensive DC applications by directly consuming electricity from RES-plants.

Suggested Citation

  • Gilbert Fridgen & Marc-Fabian Körner & Steffen Walters & Martin Weibelzahl, 2021. "Not All Doom and Gloom: How Energy-Intensive and Temporally Flexible Data Center Applications May Actually Promote Renewable Energy Sources," Business & Information Systems Engineering: The International Journal of WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK, Springer;Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V. (GI), vol. 63(3), pages 243-256, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:binfse:v:63:y:2021:i:3:d:10.1007_s12599-021-00686-z
    DOI: 10.1007/s12599-021-00686-z
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Hanny, Lisa & Wagner, Jonathan & Buhl, Hans Ulrich & Heffron, Raphael & Körner, Marc-Fabian & Schöpf, Michael & Weibelzahl, Martin, 2022. "On the progress in flexibility and grid charges in light of the energy transition: The case of Germany," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    2. Körner, Marc-Fabian & Sedlmeir, Johannes & Weibelzahl, Martin & Fridgen, Gilbert & Heine, Moreen & Neumann, Christoph, 2022. "Systemic risks in electricity systems: A perspective on the potential of digital technologies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).

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