The Emerging Role of Onsite Generation in Data Centres - Reflections from DataCentres North 2016

In many ways, this year’s DataCentres North event 2016 in Manchester highlighted how quickly the energy demands of digital infrastructure are beginning to evolve. While resilience and uptime remain the core priorities for operators, discussions across the conference increasingly pointed toward a broader challenge emerging beneath the surface, how future data centres will secure reliable, efficient and scalable power as facilities continue to grow in both size and complexity.

I had the opportunity to speak at one of the technical sessions at the event discussing gas-fired onsite generation and the potential role of combined heat and power (CHP) within enterprise data centre environments. The conversations throughout the exhibition highlighted just how rapidly digital infrastructure demand continues to grow across the UK and Ireland.

At present, much of the industry discussion around resilience still centres on traditional standby diesel generation. Backup systems remain fundamental to maintaining uptime and protecting operations during grid outages, and understandably so. Reliability remains the single most important operational requirement for any mission-critical facility.

However, there is also growing recognition that the industry may need to think more strategically about how power infrastructure evolves over the longer term.

One of the most interesting aspects of the discussions this week was the increasing interest in onsite gas-based power generation, particularly for enterprise data centres located near office campuses, hospitals, universities, or commercial developments where thermal energy can also be utilised productively.

Through combined heat and power systems, gas engines can simultaneously provide resilient electrical power while capturing usable heat that would otherwise be wasted in conventional generation systems. In the right applications, this can significantly improve overall fuel efficiency while also reducing operational energy costs.

Historically, many data centre energy discussions have focused almost exclusively on electrical resilience and cooling efficiency. Yet as facilities continue to scale, there may be increasing opportunities to integrate data centres more intelligently into wider energy ecosystems rather than operating them as isolated electrical loads.

Another noticeable trend across the event was the scale of future developments now being discussed. Only a few years ago, many enterprise facilities operated at relatively modest capacities. Increasingly, however, conversations are moving toward significantly larger installations, with facilities exceeding 20MW beginning to enter mainstream industry discussions.

That trend raises important questions for future grid infrastructure.

Today, the UK grid remains highly reliable, but there are early indications that growing digital demand, wider electrification, and increasing pressure on energy networks may create new infrastructure challenges over time. As data centres continue to expand in both scale and density, securing resilient and scalable power supplies is likely to become an increasingly important strategic consideration for operators and developers alike.

In that context, onsite generation may gradually evolve beyond simply emergency backup provision toward a more integrated role within overall site energy strategy.

The data centre sector has always been highly effective at anticipating operational risks before they fully materialise. Following discussions at DataCentres North this week, it feels increasingly likely that power availability, resilience, and energy efficiency will become defining themes of the next phase of digital infrastructure growth.