Powering Data Centres: Energy Resilience, Cooling & Net-Zero Challenges

The Power-Hungry Core of the Digital Economy

If the internet were a country, its data centres would be its heavy industry—power-intensive, always-on, and fundamental to modern life. Globally, data centres are estimated to consume between 1–2% of total electricity, and in some markets like Ireland or Singapore, that figure exceeds 10%.

This blog delves into the energy and cooling challenge facing the data centre industry. How can we build infrastructure that is scalable, reliable, and green? What innovations are emerging? And what do power companies, telcos, governments, and investors need to understand about this fast-evolving terrain?

Why Energy is the Core Constraint

Energy is not just a utility for data centres—it is the dominant design constraint, operating cost, and public concern.

Key stats:

• Power accounts for up to 60–70% of a data centre’s OPEX

• Typical hyperscale DCs require 30–100 MW of continuous power

• Cooling systems alone may use up to 40% of total energy

• Grid connection lead times in dense markets can exceed 36 months

In many regions, grid capacity is becoming the gating factor for DC growth—more than land or capital.

The Resilience Imperative: Always On, Always Redundant

Resilience isn’t a luxury—it’s the business model. Downtime costs money, credibility, and—depending on the tenant—lives.

Resilience Strategies Include:

• Dual utility feeds with automatic switchover

• Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) systems with battery backup (Li-ion or VRLA)

• Diesel generators for extended outages (but facing ESG pushback)

• Islanding and microgrids for autonomous operation

• Fuel cells and hydrogen as future alternatives

Resilience planning also involves:

• Load balancing

• Power factor correction

• Electrical isolation zones

• Predictive maintenance analytics

Tier III and IV data centres must be concurrently maintainable or fault tolerant—meaning no single point of failure. This necessitates redundant power paths and failover systems, often doubling infrastructure requirements.

Cooling: The Silent Energy Sink

Cooling is the second-largest consumer of energy in a data centre. The goal is to remove the heat generated by thousands of servers—efficiently, sustainably, and reliably.

Traditional Systems:

• Computer Room Air Conditioning (CRAC) units with chilled water or refrigerants

• Hot aisle / cold aisle containment to optimise airflow

• Raised floors and precision ducts

Advanced Systems:

• Liquid cooling (direct-to-chip or immersion)

• Adiabatic cooling using evaporative systems in dry climates

• Geothermal systems where geography allows

• AI-driven cooling orchestration to optimise airflow and detect inefficiencies

Case in point: Meta’s Danish data centre uses 100% renewable energy and ambient air cooling, achieving a PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness) of 1.1—well below industry averages.

The Carbon Challenge: Towards Net-Zero Data Centres

The data centre industry is under immense pressure to decarbonise—not just operational emissions (Scope 1 and 2), but also embodied emissions in construction and supply chains (Scope 3).

Key Trends in Net-Zero Strategy:

1. 100% renewable energy PPAs (e.g. Google, AWS)

2. On-site solar + battery storage (e.g. EdgeConneX)

3. Hydrogen generators and fuel cells in pilot stages

4. Building with low-carbon materials (e.g. modular wood-frame shells)

5. Heat reuse—district heating schemes using DC exhaust heat

6. Carbon credit markets and offsets (controversial but widespread)

More sophisticated operators are using AI for dynamic power optimisation, sourcing green concrete, and incorporating circular design principles for end-of-life hardware.

Power Markets and Policy: Friction and Opportunity

Data centres are now so power-hungry that their growth triggers national-level debates.

• Ireland temporarily banned new DC connections to protect grid stability.

• Singapore imposed a moratorium, then launched a "Green DC Roadmap."

• Germany introduced new requirements for waste heat reuse and minimum energy efficiency standards.

In response, utilities are creating dedicated DC interconnection teams, and governments are looking at zoning and incentives to steer DC development to less-congested regions.

Policy-makers must balance:

• Digital growth and data sovereignty

• Grid stability and decarbonisation targets

• Investment attraction and local environmental impact

The Energy Partnership Model

Increasingly, data centre operators and power companies are forming long-term strategic partnerships rather than arm’s-length utility arrangements.

Examples:

• Private wire agreements where DCs get power directly from nearby wind or solar farms

• Joint development of battery storage for grid balancing

• Microgrid pilots with peer-to-peer energy sharing

• Hydrogen generation and storage hubs co-located with DCs

These partnerships create new revenue models for utilities and help data centres de-risk their energy strategies.

What Telcos Need to Know

Telcos operating or investing in edge or regional DCs must navigate a new energy landscape:

• Site selection must prioritise not just fibre access but power availability

• Small footprint DCs still require robust UPS and cooling (e.g. modular units with DC-powered servers)

• Mobile base stations may be candidates for co-located micro-DCs using solar + battery power

• Green credentials are vital for public tenders and B2B sales

Understanding the energy roadmap can give telcos a competitive advantage in winning hosting business or partnering on infrastructure deals.

Investment Implications

For investors and insurers, the power profile of a data centre directly affects:

• Capex and Opex forecasting

• Permitting and timeline risk

• Residual value and exit options

• ESG scoring and reporting requirements

Green DCs are emerging as a distinct asset class, commanding premium valuations but requiring more technical and regulatory due diligence.

Strategic Questions for Stakeholders

• Can your energy partner guarantee low-carbon, high-availability supply?

• Is your cooling design future-proofed for higher-density AI workloads?

• Are you exposed to regional moratoria or grid congestion?

• Is your ESG reporting aligned with investor expectations and national frameworks?

• Could you monetise waste heat or resilience capabilities?

The Bridge Connect View

Bridge Connect advises infrastructure clients across energy, telecoms, and government on how to design and deliver sustainable, resilient data centre strategy.

We help:

• Telcos map out regional DC and power co-development

• Power companies design partnership models with DCs

• Investors evaluate energy risk in DC asset portfolios

• Policy makers balance grid, growth, and green mandates

As digital demand collides with carbon targets, power and cooling have moved from technical back-end to boardroom priority.