You will have heard about data centers powered by wind, photo voltaic, nuclear, and geothermal power. However how about hydrogen gasoline cells, which some data center corporations see as a necessary ingredient in the way forward for data center power?
Certainly, whereas hydrogen has but to turn out to be a mainstream supply of energy for data centers, it’s already being deployed in sure amenities. Preserve studying to find the advantages provided by hydrogen-powered data centers, how they work, and who’s utilizing this expertise to date.
What Is a Hydrogen-Powered Data Center?
A hydrogen-powered data center makes use of a hydrogen gasoline cell as its predominant supply of power.
Hydrogen gasoline cells produce electrical energy by breaking electrons out of hydrogen molecules. This course of will be harnessed to generate energy with minimal emissions, making hydrogen a promising answer for lowering the carbon footprint of data centers and different energy-intensive amenities.
What Are the Advantages of Hydrogen Energy for Data Center Facilities?
Hydrogen gasoline sources provide a number of advantages for data centers in comparison with different types of power:
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In contrast to fossil fuels, hydrogen gasoline cells produce few dangerous emissions or chemical substances, making hydrogen as clear an power supply as you will get.
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In contrast to wind and photo voltaic, hydrogen availability doesn’t fluctuate primarily based on climate situations.
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In contrast to geothermal, hydrogen gasoline can be utilized in any location.
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In contrast to nuclear power, hydrogen cells don’t pose a possible menace to the setting and people within the unlikely occasion of a failure.
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In contrast to some energy options, together with nuclear, hydrogen gasoline cells are comparatively cheap to construct.
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Briefly, hydrogen presents power-hungry data centers a clear various to conventional power sources, like coal and pure gasoline, with out the constraints of renewables which might be solely accessible intermittently or in sure areas.
As well as, hydrogen is much less environmentally and politically fraught than nuclear power – which has been touted not too long ago as the answer for ever-increasing data center energy wants, however which has confronted opposition from critics who cite its excessive price and potential meltdown dangers.

A hydrogen-powered automobile refueling station on the College of Nottingham, UK
Limitations of Hydrogen in Data Center Facilities
If hydrogen gasoline cells are so wonderful, why aren’t they already in widespread use as an influence supply in data centers and past?
The primary cause is that at present, producing hydrogen gasoline is an energy-intensive course of that normally depends on fossil fuels. So, though hydrogen power could also be clear in a slender sense, it’s truly ‘soiled’ when you think about the general manufacturing course of.
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Nevertheless, gradual enhancements over the previous 20 years within the effectivity of hydrogen gasoline cells have made hydrogen a extra enticing gasoline supply. The hydrogen power trade just isn’t but on the level the place hydrogen is a hands-down higher answer, nevertheless it has gotten nearer.
Elevated real-world deployment of hydrogen gasoline cells could incentive the extra analysis and growth needed to realize hydrogen’s full potential as an inexpensive, clear and dependable power supply.
Who’s Utilizing Hydrogen Energy in Center Facilities?
Hydrogen energy stays a distinct segment gasoline supply in data centers, however it’s in restricted use.
Essentially the most important instance is the latest announcement from ECL, a data center-as-a-service supplier, that it had introduced modular hydrogen-powered data centers to market.
The corporate hasn’t stated whether or not it has deployed any of those amenities to date, nevertheless it studies that they ’re prepared for prime-time use by any group that desires the advantages of modular data centers and hydrogen energy in an built-in bundle.
As well as, Microsoft and companions from the power trade have additionally demonstrated the viability of hydrogen gasoline cells to be used in data centers, though they had been utilizing hydrogen as a backup power supply for a brief interval.
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The Way forward for Hydrogen-Powered Data Center Facilities
The technical challenges that the hydrogen trade has but to beat, mixed with the very restricted deployment of hydrogen energy inside data centers to this point, recommend that will probably be years earlier than hydrogen turns into a mainstream energy supply for data centers.
However it’s not unattainable to think about its use as a substitute for renewables like wind and photo voltaic in periods once they’re unavailable.
Hydrogen might additionally show enticing in short-term data center deployments the place operators need clear power, however the place it doesn’t make monetary sense to put money into pricey wind, photo voltaic, or geothermal techniques.
The underside line: For the foreseeable future, don’t count on most data centers to be powered by hydrogen. However don’t be shocked if hydrogen gasoline cell adoption inside data centers slowly will increase, too.