Powering Flexible Data Centers with Off-Grid Renewable Hybrid Power Plants

Global data center demand is growing rapidly, but grid congestion can delay new projects for several years. Supplying data centers with on-site renewable generation offers a potential alternative, but the variability of wind and solar power makes it difficult to supply constant demand reliably. This thesis investigates whether an off-grid renewable hybrid power plant (HPP), combining wind, solar PV, and battery storage, can supply a data center reliably and cost-effectively when part of the demand is flexible.

A case study is developed using a fixed HPP design, while varying the installed data center capacity and workload mix. Firm, daily flexible, weekly flexible, and opportunistic workloads are coupled to the HPP through an energy management system (EMS), which simulates renewable power use, battery operation, curtailment, and workload scheduling. Feasibility is assessed using a reliability target, while economic performance is evaluated using the levelized cost of electricity delivered (LCOED).

Results show that firm load operation is technically possible, but inefficient. Since firm demand must be supplied continuously, only limited capacity can be served reliably. Flexible workloads improve this by shifting part of the demand to periods of higher wind and solar output. This increases useful energy delivery, reduces curtailment, and lowers the cost of delivered electricity. Overall, the results show that off-grid renewable data centers become more feasible when data center capacity and workload flexibility are designed around the variability of HPP power supply.