Fujitsu powers near-zero emissions data centre in wind turbine

Fujitsu server and storage technology is powering one of the world’s first near-zero emissions data centres located inside a wind turbine in Germany. Part of the WindCORES initiative from German electricity provider WestfalenWIND IT, the new hosting solution enables Fujitsu SELECT Partner Green IT - Das Systemhaus (Green IT) to offer to highly sustainable and cost-effective cloud services to its customers.

Designed by WestfalenWIND IT, WindCORES is a near zero-emissions tier three data centre¹ operating in Paderborn, Germany. It forms part of Germany’s planned transition to an environmentally sound, sustainable energy supply, while simultaneously meeting growing demand for cloud services. The wind turbine data centre concept has the potential to offset the impact of the increased carbon footprint caused by businesses’ ongoing digital transformation.

Fujitsu’s energy-efficient Fujitsu PRIMERGY servers and ETERNUS storage systems used in the data centre are playing a key role in minimising power consumption – with enhanced power management to keep overall draw to a minimum, plus the use of highly-efficient components such as AC-DC converters and the latest generation of cooling technology. The low energy requirements coupled with the low-cost electricity produced by the wind turbine itself means that Green IT is able to pass on substantial cost savings to customers. As a result, the partner’s cloud-based services are competitively-priced, as well as being eco-friendly with a near-zero carbon footprint.

Dave Hazard, Vice President and Head of Channel and Sales Operations at Fujitsu EMEIA, comments: “Businesses increasingly expect their suppliers to be innovative both in terms of the services they offer and how they deliver them. By working with Fujitsu to co-create a solution based around virtualised services run from the eco-friendly WindCORES data centre, Green IT can stay true to its environmentally-friendly values while providing choice and cost-effective solutions to its customers. The company is at the forefront of service providers creating a new ‘green cloud’.”

Christian Hoffmeister, CIO at Green IT, says: “We are focused on delivering sustainable, energy-efficient and cost-effective IT solutions for our customers. Unfortunately, most data centres use a considerable amount of energy derived from fossil fuels or nuclear power, backed up by diesel-powered generators in case of an interruption in electricity supply. The WindCORES solution offered by WestfalenWIND IT is the logical way for us to deliver near carbon neutral services. And, thanks to Fujitsu’s power-efficient hardware and dedicated support we are able to make them extremely competitive.”

Dr. Gunnar Schomaker, co-founder of the WestfalenWIND IT Group, adds: “There is plenty of space inside many wind turbine towers for IT and Infrastructure equipment – enabling the low-emissions distributed data centres of the future. With WindCORES, providers like Green IT, are able to offer a new differentiated portfolio of cloud services to their customers, who also benefit from low power costs and sustainability, plus a reduction in their overall carbon footprint.”