Vodafone Romania reached energy savings of around 50MWh per month in its main data centers, the energy consumption equivalent of over 350 Romanian dwellings over the same period.
The result comes 7 months after the installation of advanced cooling technologies in Vodafone’s main data rooms as part of a multi-year investment program aimed at increasing the energy efficiency of the company, while reducing its environmental impact. The investment program started in 2019 and delivers the expected results.
„We keep our commitment to use 100% Green Energy for our operations and to become Carbon neutral by 2040. Achieving 350 MWh energy saving in our main data centers in just seven months’ time is an important milestone for us, following other successful innovations previously implemented on our mobile sites”, said Catalin Buliga, Technology Director Vodafone Romania.
Efficient cooling solutions in Vodafone main data centers
Data centers are heavy energy consumers, mostly because of the cooling systems required to ensure proper operating temperature for the electronic equipment. Cooling systems are responsible for 40-50% of the total energy consumed by any data room. Vodafone Romania adopted and combined several innovative cooling technologies to reduce energy consumption: Phase Change Material (PCM), Dynamic Thermal Management with smart sensors controlled by Artificial Intelligence and Chilled Water systems. These technologies have been implemented in Vodafone data centers in Bucharest, Cluj and Brașov, generating 350 MWh energy savings in just 7 months.
Generating Green Energy for Vodafone Romania sites
Under the same commitment of protecting the Planet, Vodafone Romania started deploying photovoltaic panels on its sites, in order to generate green energy.
The most recent photovoltaic system was deployed in January 2021 for one important Vodafone hub in Constanța, with a capacity of 22 kWh and an expected energy saving of 15% on a yearly run and 100% energy saving during a summer day.
In order to replace the classical fuel generators used for site backup in case of power outage, Vodafone deployed in 2020 a hydrogen based energy generator on one of its sites.
The solution, previously used only in space projects, is now adapted for telecom and represents the first such implementation in Europe.
Currently, Vodafone is working on deploying Wind Turbine solutions to generate green energy for its sites.
