Optimizing data centres operation to provide ancillary services on-demand

Abstract

In this paper a methodology for optimizing Data Centres (DCs) operation allowing them to provide various types of Ancillary Services on-demand is proposed. Energy flexibility models have been defined for hardware devices inside DCs aiming at optimizing energy demand profile by means of load time shifting, alternative usage of non-electrical cooling devices (e.g. thermal storage) or charging/discharging the electrical storage devices. As result DCs are able to shape their energy demand to provide additional load following reserve for large un-forecasted wind ramps, shed or shift energy demand over time to avoid an coincidental peak load and feed back in the grid the energy produced by turning on their backup fossil fuelled generators to maintain (local) reactive power balance under normal conditions. Experiments via numerical simulations based on real world traces of DC operation highlight the methodology potential for optimizing DC energy consumption to provide Ancillary Services.