15 Feb 2008
Fuel cell installation proves value for money
The decision of Omaha-based financial services firm First National of Nebraska to build a data centre powered entirely by a fuel cell eight years ago has proved cost effective, it has been revealed.
According to the president of the company's chief information officer Ken Kucera, using fuel cells to provide electricity actually proves more expensive - it costs 15 cents per kilowatt-hour versus five cents to buy power from the grid.
However, this is more than offset by the fact that using fuel cells means the firm has avoided having to pay out for a backup data centre, which has saved around $75 million to $100 million.
What's more, there hasn't been an outage in eight years.
The system also confers positive benefits for the environment.
"At the end of the day, we get the cleanest, most reliable power," Mr Kucera told the Computerworld.
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&taxonomyName=data_center&articleId=310533&taxonomyId=52&intsrc=kc_feat
© Adfero Ltd
According to the president of the company's chief information officer Ken Kucera, using fuel cells to provide electricity actually proves more expensive - it costs 15 cents per kilowatt-hour versus five cents to buy power from the grid.
However, this is more than offset by the fact that using fuel cells means the firm has avoided having to pay out for a backup data centre, which has saved around $75 million to $100 million.
What's more, there hasn't been an outage in eight years.
The system also confers positive benefits for the environment.
"At the end of the day, we get the cleanest, most reliable power," Mr Kucera told the Computerworld.
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&taxonomyName=data_center&articleId=310533&taxonomyId=52&intsrc=kc_feat
© Adfero LtdSource: Adfero