Schneider Electric, a leader in Digital Transformation of energy management and automation, has delivered a stabilisation project to support the Danish power grid, in collaboration with Aeven, a provider of adaptive digital and data centre solutions. Recently separated from NNIT, Aeven has three decades of experience within the digital infrastructure industry. As an independent company, Aeven is headquartered in Denmark with a presence in the Philippines and the Czech Republic, providing robust and secure digital and data centre services for customers across the public sector, AI and life sciences and regulated markets such as finance.
Stabilising the Danish power grid
Having achieved decades of stability in the Nordics, the green transition from fossil-fueled power to dependence on renewables, combined with a challenging macroeconomic environment, has meant Danish grid authorities have struggled to stabilise grid supplies. Due to the topography of Denmark, parts of the country’s grid struggle with a significant increase in peak demand, resulting in authorities turning to large-scale energy consumers to provide short and long-term relief.
In response to the request, Energinet, the Danish TSO (Transmission System Operator) developed a Fast Frequency Reserve (FFR) pool, whereby data centres and other energy-intensive industries could support the grid with frequency stabilisation services. By working with Schneider Electric’s research and development team in Kolding and its Services counterparts in Paris, Aeven built a customised Galaxy VX Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) solution to deliver FFR and stabilise the local energy grid.
A first of its kind for Denmark
In 2022, technical experts at Aeven committed 1MW of capacity from one of its Danish data centres to support this critical project. Having first purchased Schneider Electric’s Galaxy VX UPS’ in 2017, Aeven utilised its patented eConversion technology and EcoStruxure Microgrid Advisor software to create a dedicated FFR solution, which would help stabilise the grid during peak demand.
From inception, the project took twelve months to test, validate and commission, and has significantly increased the operational efficiency of Aeven’s existing pool of Galaxy VX UPS’s. For example, by utilising the company’s eConversion operating mode, which offers up to 99% efficiency without compromising availability, Aeven has reduced energy waste in the UPS by 68% per year, without sacrificing the data centre’s stability.
Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxure Microgrid Advisor, a cloud-based demand-side software platform, enables companies to dynamically control and automate on-site energy resources – using predictive algorithms to seamlessly connect to decentralised energy as and when required.
Sustainable innovation
Looking forward, Aeven is planning to expand the scope to include multi-MW power capabilities from more of its data centres – demonstrating the significant value that the industry can play in generating renewable energy and in building a more sustainable and resilient future. Aeven’s FFR solution recently won ‘Sustainable data center project’ at the Danish Data Center Industry Awards for its focus on building a climate-positive future and its use of technological innovation to help solve one of Denmark’s biggest challenges. It has also been nominated for a Danish Chamber of Commerce Annual Award, which acknowledges digital action to the benefit of wider society.
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