Aggreko highlights importance of bridging power for new projects

Author: Simon Rowley

Following proposals from the Labour Party to build new data centres on greenbelt land, Aggreko is highlighting the importance of bridging power in the successful delivery of new projects.

Peter Kyle, the Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation, and Technology, has proposed easing planning requirements for data centres in an effort to boost the nation’s capacity for cloud computing and AI.

According to industry experts, this will likely invite far more applications for data centres on the greenbelt. However, with the National Grid already under significant strain and less developed in these areas, Billy Durie, Global Sector Head of Data Centres at Aggreko, is calling attention to the role bridging power will have to play in ensuring the scheme’s success.

Billy says, “Plans to expand data centre construction out to the greenbelt are likely to encourage the development of the UK’s cloud computing and AI industries, but will not be without their challenges.

“The wait for a grid connection on a new data centre build can often be multiple years, stretching into decades in extreme cases. Exacerbating this further is the lack of developed power infrastructure on greenbelt land, which will require significant time and investment to support the requirements of a high-energy user such as a data centre.

“This is where bridging power comes into play. Decentralised energy solutions, totally independent of the grid, can support construction and commissioning before a mains connection is established, allowing the build to go ahead early.”

According to John Pettigrew, CEO of National Grid, the boom in AI will cause data centre power use to surge six-fold in the next decade. In direct contrast, the UK’s high-voltage transmission network is now more than 70 years old.

“All factors point towards bridging power being critical to the success of the data centre sector moving forward,” Billy continues. “Underlining this all is a need to ensure that growth is sustainable, in the interest of ensuring that the nation stays on track in its net zero ambitions.”

Here, Billy is highlighting the technologies that will be key to the provision of greener bridging power. Stage-V generators, battery energy storage systems (BESS), and hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO), for instance, are just three that Aggreko is investing in as part of its sustainability framework, Energising Change.

Through this initiative, Aggreko aims to equip data centre operators with the solutions necessary to deliver new projects both on time and in an environmentally friendly manner, in the face of grid challenges and net zero targets.

Billy concludes, “Regardless of the shifting political landscape, it is clear that data centres will be a key building block of the UK’s future. As grid infrastructure struggles to keep pace, greener bridging solutions will be key to powering growth.”