Vantage Data Centers has said it is continuing to replace conventional diesel fuel in its generators with hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO).
First trialed as a pilot at its Cardiff campus in 2022, Vantage has recently implemented HVO at its newest facility on the site – CWL13 – and is currently working to deploy the renewable fuel throughout the rest of the campus.
The company has said it plans to roll out the renewable fuel at its campuses in North America and EMEA subject to fuel availability, including its Santa Clara, California site by the end of the year.
“Making the switch to renewable diesel is one of the many ways we are reducing the carbon emissions of our operations. Reaching net zero by 2030 is an incredibly ambitious goal that will require us to implement a wide variety of solutions. Our focus is on maintaining reliability and affordability while achieving emissions reductions,” said Amanda Abell, Senior Director of Sustainability at Vantage.
In 2022, Vantage partnered with the Data Center Coalition (DCC) on a technical working group aimed at driving market support for HVO, in an effort to influence the supply chain and stakeholders to provide increased availability.
“Vantage is working with industry through the Data Center Coalition to accelerate the viability and use of renewable diesel fuels,” said Mark Freeman, Vice President, Global Marketing and Public Policy at Vantage and Data Center Coalition board member.
“By collaborating and sharing information with peers, it helps the entire sector move faster. It is our hope that through partnerships we can convince policy makers, stakeholders and supply chains of the HVO benefits and enlist their help in achieving the widespread production and distribution of the renewable fuel in markets that lack reliable, cost-effective and timely access today.”
Josh Levi, president of the Data Center Coalition, added, “While there are no ‘silver bullet’ technological solutions available today to replace backup diesel generators at scale, data centres are actively seeking and evaluating alternatives that can provide environmental sustainability benefits and similar reliability, fuel availability, siting flexibility and workplace safety protections.
“We are seeing widespread interest in leveraging hydrotreated vegetable oil as an alternative to conventional diesel. In fact, a recent member survey found that 92% of respondents are interested in piloting renewable diesel in the Northern Virginia market within the next one to two years. We’re pleased to see support for this sustainable fuel and will continue to work closely with member companies as we advocate to speed the viability and availability of alternative, reliable sources for backup energy.”
Vantage is also implementing generator run-time reduction measures in an effort to eliminate emissions from the start, and installing active emissions control systems – Selective Catalytic Reductions (SCRs) – on generators in select markets.
