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I'm mystified why you think energy storage is only diesel. Any datacenter-focused energy storage resource you'd find on the web doesn't mention diesel for short
by greglindahl 9y ago
I'm mystified why you think energy storage is only diesel. Any datacenter-focused energy storage resource you'd find on the web doesn't mention diesel for short-term storage. Batteries and flywheels are the most popular. Diesel is a medium-term solution.
I've never bought capacity at a datacenter which only had diesel backup. It simply doesn't start fast enough for short-term capacity.
- gtdawg 9y agoWhen I read the comment about energy storage, I was thinking for longer term backup power of greater than 60 seconds of runtime. You are correct, that it takes some time, usually about 10 seconds for a diesel generator to come online and provide the power. That power gap is traditionally provided by a UPS (which can be chemical (battery), kinetic (flywheel), or some other short term power supply). Again, my interest is diesel alternatives that are being developed and deployed in large scale datacenters. I used to work at a datacenter that had all the usual elements. ATS, UPS, Caterpillar genset. It's all quite interesting.
- greglindahl 9y agoAh. Well, one up-and-coming alternative is Bloom Energy fuel cells, which run on natural gas, and are supposedly inexpensive enough producing energy that it's reasonable to use them as "peaker" power production. I've never seen any numbers for them, though.