Optimal cost management of the CCHP based data center with district heating and district cooling integration in the presence of different energy tariffs

Data centers are expected to be one of the major prosumers in energy networks because of their high electricity demands as well as being a possible source of waste heat energy utilization. A combined cooling, heat, and power (CCHP) system can be a perfect match with a data center for supplying the data center's less fluctuated, uninterrupted power and cooling demand. Moreover, CCHP based data center integration with regional district heating and cooling system can gain data center's excess heat, improve the efficiency of the primary energy sources, and give flexibility to district energy operators. This paper aims to offer a comprehensive energy cost management for a CCHP based data center that considers power, heating, cooling, and data center's excess heat utilization in the presence of hourly energy prices and varying outdoor temperatures. Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP) is used to determine a cost-optimized operational strategy for the overall system. The result shows that CCHP and regional energy integration to the data center decrease the overall energy cost of the operation while providing more flexibility to the data center and district energy network operators. Optimized operation of the CCHP system with the data center's excess heat recovery, district heating, and cooling integration can cut its annual electricity costs by 40.3% compared to the local operation of the CCHP based data center. Return of investment (ROI) is estimated to be in 6.6 years for additional required systems for the conventional data center.

Automated summary

Data centers are significant energy consumers and can be utilized as a source of waste heat energy. A combined cooling, heat, and power system can meet the power and cooling demands of data centers and provide flexibility through integration with regional heating and cooling systems. This paper presents a comprehensive energy cost management framework that considers electricity, heating, cooling, and the utilization of data center's waste heat.