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Caterpillar and Ballard Power Systems have successfully demonstrated a 1.5MW hydrogen fuel cell system providing back-up power to a Microsoft data centre in the US.
Conducted at Microsoft’s site in Cheyenne, Wyoming, situated at over 1,800m above sea level in “below-freezing conditions,” Caterpillar’s microgrid controller was used to operate two if its battery energy storage systems with the 1.5MW Ballard fuel cell.
Simulating a 48-hour back-up power event, the system was integrated into the data centre’s electrical plant to support its critical load.
Funded by the US Department of Energy (DOE) Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office, under the H2@Scale initiative, the DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) analysed safety, techno-economics and greenhouse gas (GHG) impacts.
Sean James, Senior Director of Data Center Research at Microsoft, said the research and findings of the demonstration would help the US tech giant towards its goal of being carbon negative by 2030.
“The project’s success provides an opportunity for hyperscale providers to drive innovations in the sustainability of power generation technologies,” he said.
Microsoft has been trialling the use of hydrogen fuel cell for data centre back-up since 2013, Christian Belady, (now former) Vice-President at Microsoft told H2 View.
Read more:Microsoft on powering its data centres with hydrogen fuel cells
According to the IEA, data centre electricity use in 2021 was estimated to be 220-230TWh – approximately 0.90-1.3% of global final energy demand. It also said centres and data transmission networks accounted for around 300 million tonnes of CO2e emissions in 2020.
Read more:Data centres: An open door for hydrogen?
Having to run 24/7, batteries and fossil fuel-powered generators are currently key to maintaining interrupted power.
David Mucciacciaro, Chief Commercial Officer at Ballard, said the latest demonstration was an “important proof point” of the reliability and durability of the company’s fuel cells in providing back-up power in the application.
“We are excited about the ability of our products to meet the critical power needs of data centre customers in this rapidly growing sector,” he added.
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