{"id":6023,"date":"2022-10-02T05:38:45","date_gmt":"2022-10-02T05:38:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hydrogencouncil.com\/?p=6023"},"modified":"2024-02-27T17:54:55","modified_gmt":"2024-02-27T16:54:55","slug":"hydrogen-fuel-cells-could-provide-emission-free-backup-power-at-datacenters-microsoft-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hydrogencouncil.com\/en\/hydrogen-fuel-cells-could-provide-emission-free-backup-power-at-datacenters-microsoft-says\/","title":{"rendered":"Hydrogen fuel cells could provide emission free backup power at datacenters, Microsoft says"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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By John Roach<\/p>

\u201cThis is it, it\u2019s running at three megawatts right now,\u201d exclaimed Mark Monroe, a principal infrastructure engineer on Microsoft\u2019s team for datacenter advanced development.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Mark Monroe (left), a principal infrastructure engineer on Microsoft\u2019s team for datacenter advanced development, and Sean James (right), Microsoft\u2019s director of datacenter research, inspect the three-megawatt hydrogen fuel cell system in Latham, New York. Photo by John Brecher.<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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A round of applause and shouts of joy from engineers at Plug, who built the fuel cell system, pierced the white noise from fans atop the shipping containers and pipes venting steam. The moment was the latest milestone on Microsoft\u2019s quest to find a zero-carbon emissions replacement for the backup diesel-powered generators that support continuous operations in the event of power outages and other service disruptions.<\/p>

\u201cWhat we just witnessed was, for the datacenter industry, a moon landing moment,\u201d said Sean James, Microsoft\u2019s director of datacenter research. \u201cWe have a generator that produces no emissions. It\u2019s mind-blowing.\u201d<\/p>

Datacenters<\/a> are the physical infrastructure behind the veil of cloud computing. They are where cat videos and vacation photos are stored, where remote workers gather for virtual meetings and gamers converge to build worlds, race cars and blast away foes. They enable the digital transformation of businesses around the world, allowing them to quickly and securely respond to customers\u2019 needs and manage supply chain logistics.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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At the core, datacenters are intentionally nondescript warehouses packed with tens of thousands of computer servers and the equipment needed to keep the servers running and available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This includes machines that keep the servers at t-shirt weather temperatures, as well as batteries and generators that maintain an uninterrupted power supply even during power grid outages.<\/p>

\u201cWhat makes a datacenter a datacenter is that it can operate even though the grid is not,\u201d James said. \u201cWhen there\u2019s a blackout, the servers stay up. That\u2019s the difference between a datacenter and a warehouse chock full of computers.\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Next-generation generator<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Microsoft strives to provide datacenter customers \u201cfive-nines\u201d of service availability, which means that the datacenter is operational 99.999% of the time. To do that, datacenter operators rely in part on the batteries in what\u2019s called the uninterruptible power supply, or UPS<\/a>, to kick on the moment a power outage occurs and provide power to the servers while backup generators are fired up.<\/p>

To make sure the generators are ready at a moment\u2019s notice, Microsoft tests them periodically, and performs what are called load tests to make sure the electrical load from the servers and other datacenter equipment can be reliably transferred to the generators.<\/p>

While the backup generators are used infrequently, they are critical when the grid goes down. That\u2019s because they maintain uninterrupted power to the datacenter, and thus service to customers.<\/p>

When the backup generators do run, they typically burn fossil fuel, though Microsoft has been pioneering sustainable fuel alternatives. Microsoft has committed to eliminate diesel fuel as part of the company\u2019s pledge to be carbon negative by 2030. To meet this goal, Microsoft is exploring short-and long-term alternatives.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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For example, in November 2021, Microsoft launched its sustainable datacenter region in Sweden<\/a> that uses Swedish fuel provider Preem\u2019s Evolution Diesel Plus for generator fuel. This diesel contains at least 50% renewable raw material and nearly an equivalent reduction in net carbon dioxide emissions compared with standard fossil diesel blends.<\/p>

Long term, proton exchange membrane, or PEM, fuel cell technology could be a viable solution for no carbon emissions, according to Lucas Joppa, Microsoft\u2019s chief environmental officer. PEM fuel cells combine hydrogen and oxygen in a chemical reaction that generates electricity, heat and water \u2013 no combustion, no particulate matter and no carbon emissions.<\/p>

The PEM fuel cell test in Latham demonstrated the viability of this technology at three megawatts, the first time at the scale of a backup generator at a datacenter. Once green hydrogen is available and economically viable, this type of stationary backup power could be implemented across industries, from datacenters to commercial buildings and hospitals.<\/p>

\u201cThree megawatts is super interesting because that\u2019s the size of the diesel generators that we use right now,\u201d Joppa said.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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This prototype proton exchange membrane, or PEM, fuel cell system, can provide emissions free backup power to about 10,000 datacenter servers. Photo by John Brecher.<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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\u2018We built a vision\u2019<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Microsoft started to explore fuel cell technology in 2013<\/a> with the National Fuel Cell Research Center at the University of California, Irvine, where they tested the idea of powering racks of computer servers with solid oxide fuel cells, or SOFCs, which are fueled by natural gas. The technology shows promise for baseload power, though it is currently prohibitively expensive.<\/p>

Microsoft turned to PEM fuel cells as a potential solution to the backup diesel generator challenge in 2018. PEM fuel cells are commonly used in the automotive industry because, like diesel engines, they are quick to turn on and off, and can follow a load up and down. That fast reaction and load following capability is well suited for backup power at datacenters, Monroe noted.<\/p>

\u201cWe started looking at the projections of the costs and the availability of hydrogen and we started to really believe that this might be a solution. And, so, we built a vision. It took us from a rack to a row to a room to a datacenter,\u201d he said.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

In 2018, Microsoft collaborated with engineers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado, to power a rack of computers with a 65-kilowatt PEM fuel cell generator. Then, in 2020, the team hired Power Innovations in Salt Lake City, Utah, to build and test a system that could power 10 racks \u2013 a row \u2013 of datacenter servers for 48 consecutive hours with a 2504-kilowatt hydrogen fuel cell system<\/a>.<\/p>

After that successful proof-of-concept demonstration, the team set out to prove the viability of a three-megawatt system, which is of sufficient size to replace a diesel generator at a datacenter.<\/p>

The problem, Monroe noted, was that nobody made PEM fuel cell systems that large \u2013 three megawatts is more than 10 times bigger than the system the company tested in Utah. Three megawatts is enough energy to power about 10,000 computer servers or 600 homes.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\u2018The coolest thing\u2019<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The challenge to build a three-megawatt fuel cell system resonated with engineers at Latham-based Plug<\/a>, a pioneer in the commercial development of fuel cell and green hydrogen technologies. Today, the company offers solutions throughout the green hydrogen ecosystem \u2014 from production and transportation to storage, handling and dispensing.<\/p>

\u201cDrawing it on the whiteboard and saying, \u2018Okay, we know we can do this, we know we can do this,\u2019 was a lot of fun,\u201d said Scott Spink, the director of engineering for Plug. \u201cThe real challenge for this project was that we didn\u2019t get to rely on one proven technology. Every piece of that fuel cell system came through a team that was at the forefront of what they were doing.\u201d<\/p>

The 125-kilowatt fuel cells \u2013 18 of which are packed into each shipping container \u2013 are the largest the company has ever made, and the three-megawatt fuel cell system is Plug\u2019s biggest application. Because the system is larger than anything built before, so too are all the components, from compressors and heat exchangers to grid-scale inverters and the pipes for hydrogen delivery.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Hannah Baldwin, an electrical engineer for the high-power stationary group at Plug, checks the health of a fuel cell in the three-megawatt hydrogen generator in Latham, New York. Photo by John Brecher.<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The system was assembled piecemeal on a concrete pad adjacent to a parking lot behind the company\u2019s headquarters for research and development and manufacturing of its ProGen line of fuel cells. Exposed wires and tubes go this way and that and the hat of radiator fans overhangs the containers giving the system the appearance of a first-iteration prototype.<\/p>

The engineers that Spink assembled to build the system were unfazed by the motley appearance.<\/p>

\u201cThis is the coolest thing I\u2019ve ever done,\u201d said Hannah Baldwin, a next-generation electrical engineer for the high-power stationary group at Plug, who was hired to work on the project. \u201cI don\u2019t know how I\u2019m going to top this in my career. There\u2019re just so many pieces of the puzzle that have to come together. And seeing them all coming together and working well and stable is rewarding.\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Backup power<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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After the fuel cell generator hit the three-megawatt milestone, Microsoft\u2019s James jumpstarted the testing to prove it could perform in real-world conditions.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve asked two questions,\u201d he said. \u201cMy first one\u2019s been answered: Can this technology all integrated together produce the power that I need? My second question is can it perform like a diesel? A diesel engine can produce a lot of power very quickly. That\u2019s the key. So, we\u2019re going to start simulating a datacenter duty cycle and one of those is a power outage.\u201d<\/p>\n

When a power outage occurs, batteries in the UPS can keep the datacenter running for several minutes, which is more than sufficient to ramp up a diesel \u2013 or hydrogen \u2013 generator. Once ramped up, backup generators, in theory, can keep the datacenter running indefinitely, as long as they have a fuel supply.<\/p>\n

Starting that June day in Latham and for the next several weeks, Spink\u2019s team ran the three-megawatt hydrogen fuel cell system through the tests Microsoft uses to qualify diesel generators to prove it could function reliably, including simulated power outages and hours-long runs.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\u201cI\u2019m just tickled,\u201d Monroe said. \u201cThis is a continuation of the journey \nthat we started back in 2018. And in 2020, when we announced the work \nthat were doing on the smaller tests, we alluded to the fact that we \nwere going to run a three-megawatt test sometime in the future. The \nfuture is now.\u201d<\/p>

With the prototype testing complete and concept proven, Plug is focused
on rolling out an optimized commercial version of high-power stationary
fuel cell systems that have a smaller footprint and a more streamlined
and polished aesthetic than the one on the pad adjacent to the parking
lot in Latham.<\/p>\n

Microsoft will install one of these second-generation fuel cell systems at a research datacenter where engineers will learn how to work with and deploy the new technology, including the development of hydrogen safety protocols. The date of first deployment at a live datacenter is unknown, though it will likely occur at a new datacenter in a location where air quality standards prohibit diesel generators, James noted.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to turn around when the excitement dies down and start to ask, \u2018Okay, we did one, where can I get 1,000?\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got a commitment to be completely diesel free, and that supply chain has got to be robust \u2013 we\u2019ve got to talk about scale across the entire hydrogen industry.\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Oversized caps of radiator fans sit atop each shipping container with the fuel cells. Other infrastructure includes batteries (white boxes) to absorb load while the fuel cells start up and load banks (blue boxes) to simulate a datacenter load during testing of the prototype system. Photo by John Brecher.<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Hydrogen economy<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Hydrogen is the lightest and most abundant element in the universe. It\u2019s long been eyed on Earth for its clean energy potential. A challenge is that while stars such as the sun consist mostly of hydrogen, on Earth hydrogen only naturally occurs in compound form with other elements \u2013 think water or hydrocarbons such as natural gas and petroleum.<\/p>

The high cost and technology required to separate hydrogen from these natural compounds, store it, transport it and wring power from it at scale have limited its use. Over the past decade, that calculus has begun to change, according to Darin Painter, a vice president of sales and product management for stationary power at Plug.<\/p>

The change is driven by advances across the hydrogen ecosystem coupled with a growing interest in and commitment to sustainability, he said.<\/p>

For example, abundant and inexpensive wind and solar energy is enabling the cost-efficient generation of so-called green hydrogen with machines called electrolyzers. These machines operate like a fuel cell in reverse \u2013 they use energy to split water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen. If the energy used to run the electrolyzer is from renewables, then the hydrogen produced is considered green.<\/p>

The hydrogen used during the Latham test was a low-carbon \u201cblue\u201d hydrogen obtained as a byproduct in the industrial production of chlorine and sodium hydroxide. Plug is in the process of scaling up green hydrogen production at facilities throughout the US and Europe to meet the growing demand, Painter said. Microsoft plans to use only green hydrogen in production datacenters.<\/p>

At the other end of the hydrogen ecosystem, technological advances have led to denser and more efficient fuel cell stacks that combine hydrogen and oxygen to generate electricity, heat and water.<\/p>

\u201cAll of that has to happen before you can get to a viable solution at scale,\u201d Painter said. \u201cIf we would have tried to build this three-megawatt system 10 or 15 years ago, I don\u2019t think we could have.\u201d<\/p>

Monroe and his colleagues saw this change in the calculus when they ran the numbers at the start of their hydrogen fuel cell project in 2018. On a per-watt basis, Monroe said, power produced from hydrogen fuel cells is well on the way to becoming competitive with power from other sources such as diesel generators.<\/p>

To accelerate breakthroughs in clean energy solutions, the US Department of Energy announced the first Energy Earthshot<\/a> \u2013 Hydrogen Shot \u2013 in June 2021, with a goal to reduce the cost of clean hydrogen by 80% to US$1 for 1 kilogram within 1 decade. A kilogram of hydrogen has roughly the same energy content as a gallon of gasoline, Monroe noted.<\/p>

What\u2019s needed, he added, is a catalyst to scale up the production of green hydrogen and fuel cells, which will drive down costs and increase adoption of the technology.<\/p>

Microsoft and other players in the datacenter industry are uniquely positioned to be that catalyst, according to Joppa, who in addition to his role as chief environmental officer is Microsoft\u2019s representative on the Hydrogen Council<\/a>, a global initiative of leading energy, transport and industry companies that was formed to promote hydrogen\u2019s role in the clean energy transition.
Microsoft\u2019s business and sustainability needs for fuel cells and green hydrogen send a demand signal into the marketplace, Joppa noted. What\u2019s more, if Microsoft invests in hydrogen technology and the technology works, other companies will feel more confident investing in hydrogen too, he added.<\/p>

\u201cSo, if we feel confident in using these to ensure continuity of our datacenter services, that\u2019s a big measure of faith,\u201d Joppa said.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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City-scale solutions<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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A robust green hydrogen economy could also help cities transition to 100% renewable energy, noted James. That\u2019s because excess energy produced by wind and solar farms can be used to run electrolyzers, in effect storing this excess energy in hydrogen. Then, when the sun is not shining and the wind is not blowing, this green hydrogen can power fuel cells without generating any carbon emissions.<\/p>

\u201cWe want to power our cloud off the sun \u2013 free clean energy,\u201d he said. \u201cWell, practically, how do you do that? You have to get really good at storing energy, and hydrogen is a great way to do that.\u201d<\/p>

James envisions a future where datacenters are outfitted with hydrogen fuel cells, hydrogen storage tanks and electrolyzers to convert water molecules into hydrogen with excess renewable energy. During periods of high energy demand or when the sun stops shining and the wind stops blowing, Microsoft can ramp up the fuel cells, taking the datacenter load off the grid, freeing up grid power for others to use.<\/p>

The challenges of bringing a version of this vision to reality is what compels the next-generation electrical engineer Baldwin to stick with a career in the hydrogen economy, a career path, she admits, that was not top of mind before she worked on the fuel cell project.<\/p>

\u201cI\u2019m excited about the idea of working on something that can make a difference in the world, and hydrogen has a ton of potential to be a huge game changer,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen a lot of people think of renewable energy, they think of wind turbines and solar panels, and they don\u2019t necessarily think of hydrogen. I know I didn\u2019t. I think that will definitely change.\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hydrogen fuel cells packed into a pair of 40-foot-long shipping containers here ramped up on an overcast day early this June as engineers gathered around laptops displaying data on the state, health and power output of the cells in this first-of-a-kind hydrogen generator.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6032,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[87,92,79,78,107,74,86,77,80],"tags":[162],"class_list":["post-6023","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","category-case-study","category-category","category-format","category-fuel-cells","category-hydrogen-in-action","category-north-america","category-region","category-subject-matter","tag-case-study"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHydrogen fuel cells could provide emission free backup power at datacenters, Microsoft says | Hydrogen 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