GE Teams with Validus DC Systems to Introduce Direct Current Data Center System

Oct 27, 2009 9:59 AM

Customers can save millions of dollars in equipment, real estate and energy costs

GE Consumer & Industrial's electrical business recently signed a an agreement with Validus DC Systems, Brookfield, Conn., a provider of fully integrated direct current (DC) power infrastructure for datacenters and telecommunications facilities, to promote the new Validus DC Data Center system using advanced GE electrical components. In addition to providing improved end–to–end reliability, according to the company, the new system can lower facility costs for equipment, real estate, and energy, effectively reducing the total cost of ownership by 30% to 50%.

“Data centers are using an increasingly larger share of the world's total electricity,” says Paul Foody, global product general manager of GE‘s electrical business. “Recognizing this trend, our alliance combines the best attributes, technologies and skills of our organizations to help data centers deliver significant energy savings."

"Data center and telecommunications facility managers demand greater reliability from their infrastructure while driving hard to reduce the total cost of operations." says Rudy Kraus, CEO of Validus DC Systems. “Our alliance, and consequently, the DC Data Center system, meets this market demand by delivering a highly reliable direct current system designed for the requirements of today's most demanding data center and telecommunications environments."

For a 2.5MW data center with a 2N system, the DC Data Center system can provide the following benefits compared with AC systems:

Use up to 25% less energy, saving nearly 14 million kilowatt hours per year, equivalent to approximately $3.3 million per year in annual energy savings, assuming $0.14 per kilowatt hour.
Reduce the initial cost of the electrical distribution equipment by about 50% and cut the installation cost by about 20% to 40% depending on site conditions and power density.
Reduce the real estate required for infrastructure equipment by about 50%, equivalent to a savings of about 7,000 ft² or $3.2 million per year assuming $500 annual cost per square foot.
Provide total savings equivalent to $33 million over five years.
Improve reliability as the system has fewer single points of failure. The system has fewer power conversions and transformations, and therefore produces less heat output. As a result, the DC system is half as likely to fail within a five-year period compared with an equivalent AC system, and it provides 99.9998% reliability.

To find out more, watch a video on YouTube or visit GE's Web site to request the white paper co–authored by GE and Validus.