Wind-powered data centre concept wins award

An industry and research consortium has won a German Data Centre Award for its concept of locating small data centres within wind turbine towers.

The project, called WindCORES++, aims to see power-intensive data centres situated where electricity can be directly supplied on a climate-friendly basis.

The concept, developed by WestfalenWIND IT, Rittal and SICP, won in Category 1 of the German Data Centre Award for ‘Ideas and research in relation to data centres’ for cloud hosting.

The 16-member expert jury was impressed by the solution’s combination of cost-effectiveness and sustainability. It obtains over 90% wind power and uses synergy effects to comprehensively save resources.

On average, IT infrastructure accounts for 40% of the energy costs arising in data centres.

But because WindCORES++ is installed and integrated in wind turbines, it harnesses existing infrastructures and buildings, such as the tower or the existing power grid.

And due to the direct supply with wind power, the electricity costs for WindCORES++ are significantly lower than the market average.

As many as 50 IT racks for cloud operation can be installed in just one wind turbine, making use of the space available over several storeys. The compact installation significantly raises the cost-effectiveness per wind energy turbine.

WestfalenWIND IT’s Managing Director, Dr Fiete Dubberke, was pleased with the win. “It is overwhelming that we were nominated twice on our first appearance in the German Data Centre Award and that we immediately gained one first place,” he said.

WindCORES++ is currently in the planning phase, with the collaboration soon to apply for a building permit.

Images courtesy Rittal and WestfalenWIND.