Data centres are hotpspots for high-power UPS

Developed countries dominate the above-100 kVA range while developing economies are big markets for small-range UPS, finds Frost & Sullivan’s Energy team.

  • Thursday, 9th March 2017 Posted 7 years ago in by Phil Alsop
 The accelerating shift toward digitisation, Internet of Things (IoT), software as a service (SaaS) and cloud computing is giving a huge boost to the adoption of uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems across different applications. With greater virtualisation, data centers have risen in importance and numbers, creating a vast market for UPS systems. The United States alone has more than 12 million servers in 3 million data centers. As loss of power could disrupt data centers’ globally connected data processors and result in significant losses, high-power UPS systems are enjoying enthusiastic uptake among these end users.
 
“While data centers propel the above-200 kVA UPS segment, the popularity of modular UPS systems has made the up-to-300 kVA systems the biggest growth segment,” said Frost & Sullivan Energy Research Manager Suba Arunkumar. “Modular UPS’ scalability makes it ideal for backup power in key industrial applications.”
 
Global Uninterruptible Power Supplies Market, 2016 is part of Frost & Sullivan's Energy Storage Growth Partnership Subscription. This deliverable discusses the demand for and usage patterns of UPS across wide power ranges, from below 1 kVA to above 500 kVA. According to the research, more than 60 percent of the UPS demand is from North America and Asia-Pacific, with the United States, China and India being prominent markets.
 
The size and potential of the market has attracted numerous players offering small power-range UPS at fiercely competitive prices. This market fragmentation is slowing down the overall revenue and market growth, compelling UPS suppliers to innovate as well as implement expansion strategies.
 
Developing countries including Malaysia, Indonesia, Venezuela, Brazil, Colombia, India and China are proving to be high-growth markets due to their power deficits, ageing transmission infrastructure, blackouts and brown-outs,” noted Arunkumar. “Significantly, emerging economies adopt UPS of less than 20 kVA, whereas developed countries largely depend on the above-20 kVA range to combat low power quality issues in industrial, healthcare and data center applications.”