Sustainability Magazine February 2023 | Page 37

The Green Mountain data center , located on the island of Rennesoy , near Stavanger , Norway , boasts a Power Utilization Efficiency ( PUE ) rating of 1.2 and has established itself as one of the world ’ s most efficient data centers . Founded in 2013 , and situated in a former NATO munitions bunker , Green Mountain is unique and innovative for several reasons .
Firstly , the data center is powered by cheap , reliable , low carbon hydropower . Secondly , the data center is cooled by seawater from the nearby fjord , and gravity is a key factor in the distribution of that cold water to the data center . By partnering with Schneider Electric , Green Mountain has built a highly resilient and sustainable Tier III certified data center . Its IT room boasts an impressive Power Usage Effectiveness ( PUE ) of less than 1.2 , something which Green Mountain measures and reports on in real-time to its customers .
To achieve this , Green Mountain has implemented several solutions from Schneider Electric ’ s EcoStruxure™ for Data Centers architecture , including its InRow™ cooling systems , lnfraStruxure™ hot aisle containment systems , Symmetra MW
UPSs , Canalis LV busway , Prisma LV Distribution , SM6 + transformers , MV / Citect Scada , and Uniflair™ coolers .
Green Mountain also uses Schneider Electric ’ s EcoStruxure™ IT data center infrastructure management ( DCIM ) monitoring software to controls a series of mission-critical components , and around 12,000 measuring points , helping it to increase efficiency and resilience across the facility . Further , Schneider Electric also helped design Green Mountain ’ s cooling system , which uses gravity to bring the cold water from the fjord to its cooling station without using any power or relying on refrigerant gases .
Green Mountain data center customers stand to benefit from this low cost , high efficiency implementation , enabling them to reduce their carbon footprint significantly .
Powered by 100 % renewable hydro power and partnering with Schneider Electric , Green Mountain is able to support the critical uptime requirements of its customers , while operating as one of the greenest data centers in the world , with close to zero CO2 emissions .
Learn more