Artificial intelligence (AI) requires four to eight times more power than traditional servers. Data centres need to upgrade their critical power infrastructure to ensure that AI can operate reliably and at scale, and ABB and its partners in the industry are rolling out new medium voltage power protection architectures that maximise power system resilience and continuity.
We are working closely with data centre consultants and operators to help them address the challenges and implement solutions quickly,’ said Sebastien Surply, head of ABB Electrical's Power Protection division. Innovation and partnerships are vital to stay ahead in this demanding industry. Our installed base of HiPerGuard Medium Voltage Uninterruptible Power Supply (MV UPS) solutions in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific is growing strongly and customers are taking advantage of the opportunity to optimise their power infrastructure to maximise the space available for servers.
Adopting medium voltage power protection enables data centres to improve the energy efficiency and resilience of Artificial Intelligence (AI), which helps eliminate standby generator sets and provides better load surge management. Under MV conditions, with lower currents, there is a corresponding reduction in the size of cables required - potentially realising copper savings of up to 90% - resulting in lower energy losses. Locating the uninterruptible power supply (UPS) at the substation level also simplifies the low-voltage infrastructure, helping to reduce cooling requirements and improving its inherent reliability due to the protection of larger blocks of load and fewer switching levels.
HiPerGuard is a medium-voltage uninterruptible power supply (UPS) designed for hyperscale data centres and other mission-critical facilities that require high power density and alternative grid power.ABB's static converter system offers an alternative to low-voltage UPS architectures.HiPerGuard not only offers the same low total Cost of Ownership (TCO), high performance and resilience of a classic dynamic rotary UPS system, but also adds greater flexibility and scalability.
Medium voltage uninterruptible power supply (MV UPS) systems provide a more reliable connection to the grid, minimising costly downtime and power interruptions. HiPerGuard is 98% efficient at voltages up to 24 kV and also helps to reduce carbon emissions, with the potential to save 1,245 tonnes of CO2 over a standard 15-year lifespan.
