Sure Power Corp. (Danbury, CT) began the benchmarking phase of a $2.2 million US Department of Energy award that will lead to the development of an innovative distributed energy, combined heat and power system. Sure Power expects to complete the benchmarking phase and the customization of the system design before the end of 2002.
The project's goal is to integrate a Sure Power high-availability, on-site generation system into an existing Internet data center facility, allowing the production of its own electricity and cooling, independently of the existing utility grid. The system will provide high-availability, computer-grade electricity and cooling that is flexible, scalable and can support existing loads, future load growth, and expansion plans while exceeding clean air regulations and increasing energy efficiency. It will also address utility obstacles slowing the adoption of distributed energy resources through its unique design. The system will offer the benefit of combined heat and power, a clean and reliable alternative to conventional electricity generation by using the heat normally lost during power generation to provide heating, air conditioning, steam, hot water and cooled water.
"Today's digital economy has created an increased demand for power in concentrated areas, and the utility grid can't keep up," stated Bill Frederick, CEO of Sure Power. "Distributed generation will allow businesses like Internet data centers, which serve as the backbone of the digital economy, to operate more productively and more profitably: it's more energy efficient than grid-based power, it's much more reliable, it's scalable and it provides facility-level cooling capabilities as part of its design."
