Datacenters are often seen as drains on the electricity grid, with data from the Central Statistics office showing the electricity used by datacenters in Ireland increased by almost a third in 2021 alone. Set in a backdrop of concerns over the state of Irelands energy security and worries over blackouts in the 2022-23 winter season due to lack of interconnection and intermittency of wind generated power we are all to familiar with seeing datacenters in the news for all the wrong reasons.
Therefore it is great to see news that together with Microsoft, Eaton and Enel X have found a solution to turn datacenter batteries in to assets that can be used to help reduce the need to maintain spinning reserves at power plants avoiding two million metric tons of CO2 emissions from going into the atmosphere in 2025.
Microsoft's contributions can and will help the Irish Government balance the supply and demand efficiently while supporting the growth of electricity from green and renewable sources.