Dutch company NorthC is replacing its diesel emergency power generators with a more sustainable alternative. Within Europe, it would be a first to use green hydrogen instead of diesel.
Data centers currently still have high energy consumption and a large carbon footprint, but the European Union wants to change that. By 2030, data centers in the EU should be climate neutral. It is therefore positive that progress is being made and companies are experimenting with solutions.
At least NorthC is already trying to start the green movement at data centers. The company operates several data centers throughout the Netherlands. The new data center in Groningen has already managed to make the company a bit more climate-friendly.
Hydrogen to replace diesel
The company designs the emergency power supply of its data center in Groningen to be completely CO2 neutral. To do so, NorthC installed fuel cells based on green hydrogen. Hydrogen only gets that label if the chemical elements are split by using only renewable energy.
Within Europe, this is a first. Emergency power generators typically consume diesel, even if they are barely used. According to NorthC, most diesel is lost due to the monthly checks to which emergency power generators are subjected.
By replacing diesel, NorthC would save 78 tons of CO2 annually. The only emission in the new fuel cells is water. In addition, the cells would have a long lifespan, of 20 years or more, which is also good for the climate.
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Currently, the environmentally friendly alternative is only built into the Groningen data center. NorthC is looking at whether other data centers can also move away from diesel.
NorthC itself indicates that making these diesel emergency power generators greener is not obvious: “For existing diesel generators, NorthC is investigating whether it is possible and cost-effective to make them suitable for hydrogen. While this is less efficient than hydrogen fuel cells that convert H2 directly into electrical energy, it does result in a significant reduction of more than 80% in emissions and thus further contributes to sustainability,” the message sounds.
Currently, the cost of hydrogen is still high. NorthC expects the price to drop in the near future due to continued developments in the hydrogen sector.
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