Andrew Moore, Partner at Cundall, discusses the pros and cons of hydrogen solutions and their role in solving data centre energy demands
Over the last decade, hydrogen has been touted as the solution to our data centre energy demands. Its supporters highlight the benefits as a sustainable fuel source presenting a straightforward path towards accessible energy with low-carbon emissions. It would enable us to not only maintain our current energy consumption levels but expand them – something vital with the prevalence of AI and high-performance culture.
Hydrogen is a powerful fuel source. Its applications to specific use cases will change industries. However, it should not be seen as the universal solution – which many in the industry are deeming it to be. For hydrogen as a fuel source to succeed, we need to challenge it and acknowledge its challenges. While a new powerful fuel source will help solve our energy demand, it doesn’t fix the root cause. By far, the most effective way to reduce our energy waste and achieve net zero carbon in the data centre industry is to reduce our demand and look at ‘re-use’ first.
Why is hydrogen hyped?
It’s easy to see why hydrogen has garnered a hype. Data centre operators are struggling to manage ambitious sustainability goals and hydrogen can be a powerful, low-carbon source for energy. Despite this, seeing hydrogen as a ‘drop-in replacement’ for our current energy sources tends to overlook efficiency. Efficiency first and foremost should be the pressing challenge we are looking to solve.
Everyone in the industry, and now even those outside of it, know that data centres are energy-intensive buildings. The EIA (Environmental Investigation Agency) discovered that data centres account for approximately 1.0-1.5% of the global energy consumption, and with more being built, it will naturally grow. Hydrogen as an energy source can provide a role in backup power systems, replacing high-carbon diesel generators. But hydrogen-only data centres are not there yet.
The reason for this is that hydrogen comes with unique challenges that require large-scale changes for it to be introduced at scale. When designing a data centre for hydrogen, operators need to understand what they are getting into before adopting it.
Some of the challenges
Manufacturing inefficiencies: Hydrogen production is a complex process, particularly when net zero is the goal. While some see white hydrogen as an option, it is currently not here yet. White hydrogen refers to naturally occurring hydrogen gas found in the Earth’s crust and is formed through geological processes.
Green hydrogen is generated through electrolysis. This involves using electricity that comes from renewable sources to split the water into its hydrogen and oxygen elements. The difficulty is, this is a highly energy-intensive process, and the electrolysis alone can cause an energy loss of around 20-30%.
From there, additional losses occur when hydrogen is compressed and stored equating to around a 10% loss. Lastly, converting the stored hydrogen back into usable energy results in a further 30% loss. These losses make hydrogen less viable as a primary energy source especially for data centres as direct electrification is greatly more efficient.
Distribution: Unlike electricity, which can be transported through established grids, hydrogen requires a separate supply chain. This supply chain currently doesn’t exist at the scale needed. It is uncertain whether gas pipelines could be used safely and efficiently to transport pure hydrogen. The solution of retrofitting them to be capable would be costly, complex, and time intensive. The alternative is to store hydrogen close to power plants, but this would raise safety concerns in urban areas because of its risks.
Safety: From storage comes safety. Hydrogen is famously highly flammable and is incredibly risky if not handled correctly. Of course, whilst safety protocols would be in place if hydrogen were to be used, the scale needed for its production, storage, and transportation would increase the risk of an accident. To mitigate these risks, the management needs a team with expertise in hydrogen’s unique properties and from a fiscal perspective, the full support of the insurance industry.
Implementation at scale: We have seen success with hydrogen in small-scale projects. However, scaling up to the needs of data centres is a much greater challenge. Achieving the scale necessary would require substantial investment from both industry and government to create the necessary infrastructure and train a hydrogen-skilled workforce. Expansion will come with growing pains and should be considered before hydrogen is seen as a viable fuel source for the sector.
While these challenges exist, it should be known that hydrogen does have applications. Most notably, high-energy industrial applications which require intense solutions that hydrogen can provide. However, in the data centre industry which also requires high power consumption, improving the grid structure is more efficient than switching to hydrogen. If the industry shifts its focus to enhancing grid stability and reliability, we can reduce our dependence on local backup power. This better aligns with decarbonisation and brings us closer to achieving net zero carbon.
Focus on reducing demand
Instead of seeing hydrogen as a silver bullet, we should be focusing on reducing our energy demand and looking at ways to reduce reliance on standby power with enhanced grid connections. Solutions could be better re-use of waste heat or optimising equipment used in data centres. By targeting IT energy usage effectiveness (ITUE) as a metric for success, we could reduce our power losses greatly.
Although hydrogen could have a use in replacing current generator systems, we could go a step further and remove generators entirely. Standby generators come with a large energy, fiscal, and carbon cost. Depending on the regional likelihood of mains failure, data centres can often go without using their backup generators, only turning them on to test they still work – a huge waste of resources.
Hydrogen will certainly have a place in the future. Yet, the data centre industry cannot see this as the sole option to decarbonise the facilities we design and operate. Governments and organisations have both made net zero carbon goals a priority but to reach these we need to look introspectively and find ways to reduce our overall demand and make the most use of the energy and heat we currently have. Once we have reduced, we can re-scale and reach net zero carbon.
