中国储能网讯：Data centers are host to a complex electrical power network, including batteries storing energy in the UPS for continuity, and the racks and O&M equipment where the energy is consumed. Facilities have also always included power generation - most usually in the form of diesel generators for backup. Facilities are increasingly changing these for fuel cells, powered by hydrogen or methane, or teaching the generators to drink renewable HVO instead of fossil fuel. Sites are also sprouting wind turbines and solar panels which contribute energy to the data center, or potentially to the outside world through the grid. That outward flow can also happen when UPS batteries are made available for “fast frequency response,” bolstering the grid in times of high-power demand.

  能源数据中心拥有复杂的电力网络，包括在 UPS 中存储能量以保证连续性的电池，以及消耗能量的机架和运维设备。设施还始终包括发电——最常见的是备用柴油发电机。越来越多的设施将其改为由氢或甲烷驱动的燃料电池，或者教导发电机使用可再生的 HVO 而不是化石燃料。各个站点还涌现了风力涡轮机和太阳能电池板，它们为数据中心提供能源，或者可能通过电网向外界提供能源。当 UPS 电池可用于“快速频率响应”时，这种向外流动也可能发生，从而在高电力需求时期支撑电网。

  In recent times, we’ve referred to this as “microgrid.” National grids include power generation, distribution, and consumption. They also have management. They have controllers that keep the thing running and serving all the consumers. Data centers include most of this on a small scale, so it’s often referred to as a microgrid. But to truly be a microgrid, it should be a domain, where the local power system can operate autonomously, perhaps even independently, of the local grid. It should also have a controller.

  最近，我们将其称为“微电网”。国家电网包括发电、配电和用电。他们也有管理。他们有控制器来保持设备运行并为所有消费者提供服务。数据中心在小范围内包含了其中的大部分，因此通常被称为微电网。但要真正成为微电网，它应该是一个本地电力系统可以自主运行、甚至独立于本地电网运行的域。它还应该有一个控制器。

When the utility can't provide

当遇到公用电网难以供电的情景

  Behind the current popularity of microgrids is the fear that local utility grids are not going to always be as reliable as the data center desires them to be. That’s a real fear. In developing countries, grids are still being established and made fully reliable. Even in quite “well-off” countries like South Africa, there are well-publicized electricity problems, which make that more than a fear, but a certainty.

  当前微电网流行的背后是人们担心当地公用电网不会总是像数据中心希望的那样可靠。这是真正的恐惧。在发展中国家，电网仍在建设中并使其完全可靠。即使在像南非这样相当“富裕”的国家，也存在广为人知的电力问题，这不仅仅是一种恐惧，而是一种必然。

  So microgrids are going to be seen by many as a necessary step. But they are not a magic solution. If you adopt that option, you are deciding that the utility grid is not going to be good enough for you. Maybe it’s not reliable enough, maybe it is not green enough, or maybe not timely enough. In many cases, the utility is simply not able to distribute the power where and when you need it. Data center hubs like Northern Virginia, Dublin, Singapore, and London aggregate vast amounts of capacity demand in one place. Queues for capacity can be long.

  因此，微电网将被许多人视为必要的一步。但它们并不是一个神奇的解决方案。如果您采用该选项，您就认为公用电网对您来说不够好。也许它不够可靠，也许它不够环保，或者也许不够及时。在许多情况下，公用事业公司根本无法在您需要的时间和地点分配电力。北弗吉尼亚州、都柏林、新加坡和伦敦等数据中心中心将大量容量需求聚集在一处。排队等候容量可能会很长。

  Given that, a lot of data center providers are deciding that they can do a better job than the local utility grid. Most data centers are already part of the way there, having invested in backup power generation that can make up for short-term problems on the utility grid. But going to a microgrid is a bigger step. It involves becoming an actual electricity provider. Depending what country you are in, this may add regulatory hurdles. It will mean a more demanding planning application and approval process. In areas with high demand, that process may still be quicker than waiting for connection to the public grid, so some are moving towards fully independent microgrids.

  鉴于此，许多数据中心提供商认为他们可以比当地公用电网做得更好。大多数数据中心已经迈出了这一步，投资了备用发电，以弥补公用电网的短期问题。但迈向微电网是一个更大的进步。它涉及成为真正的电力供应商。根据您所在的国家/地区，这可能会增加监管障碍。这将意味着更严格的规划申请和审批流程。在需求高的地区，该过程可能仍然比等待连接到公共电网更快，因此一些地区正在转向完全独立的微电网。

Do you want to take this step?

你想迈出这一步吗？

  But moving into power generation is not a core business for the data center sector. Alongside the potential benefits in financial terms, you will have to consider the costs. You will have to develop a whole new set of expertise within your organization.

  但进入发电领域并不是数据中心行业的核心业务。除了财务方面的潜在好处外，您还必须考虑成本。您必须在组织内培养一套全新的专业知识。

  It may be more likely that you will find a partner who can design and operate your microgrid. Essentially, this becomes a bet that a small grid operator on your premises will be a better, more reliable, and more responsive partner than the local public utility. And, no matter the lure of becoming independent of the local grid, you will not able to operate in isolation. Your data center may want to call on the local grid, perhaps reversing the old roles, and using the grid as a backup to the primary power supply you now own.

  您更有可能找到可以设计和运营您的微电网的合作伙伴。从本质上讲，这是一个赌注，即您所在场所的小型电网运营商将成为比当地公用事业公司更好、更可靠、反应更灵敏的合作伙伴。而且，无论独立于当地电网的诱惑如何，您都将无法孤立运营。您的数据中心可能想要调用本地电网，也许反转旧的角色，并使用电网作为您现在拥有的主电源的备份。

  Your microgrid will also want the utility grid as a partner, to make good use of any surplus energy you generate. It’s worth suggesting here that, with enough storage, your microgrid should be able to make good money by storing that surplus energy and choosing when to offer it.

  您的微电网还需要公用电网作为合作伙伴，以充分利用您产生的任何剩余能源。在这里值得建议的是，只要有足够的存储空间，您的微电网应该能够通过存储多余的能源并选择何时提供它来赚取利益。

Win friends and influence

赢得朋友和影响力

  Turn your data center into a power station, a responsive power source, and you will generate more than electricity. Your microgrid could ease demands on local grids, maybe even avoiding new generators and pylons. As well as power, you could produce the goodwill that the data center sector needs if it is to keep growing the way it hopes.

  将您的数据中心变成一个发电站，一个反应灵敏的电源，您将产生的不仅仅是电力。您的微电网可以减轻对当地电网的需求，甚至可能避免安装新的发电机和塔。除了电力之外，如果数据中心行业要继续按其希望的方式增长，您还可以产生所需的商誉。