The use of wind, solar, and biomass energy—all locally sourced and in surplus—frees data centers from external energy dependence. However, one of the challenges in using this type of energy is its fluctuation depending on the day, time, or season. The BSC-CNS will develop algorithms to determine the optimal location of workloads among data centers and the timing of their execution to maximize workload while minimizing emissions. The results will be validated in eight data centers, four in Northern Europe and four in Southern Europe.
According to researchers from the Autonomic Systems department at the BSC-CNS, “By combining improvements in hardware and facility efficiency with appropriate configuration of the software that manages them, as well as the use of renewable energy, energy costs can be reduced by 30% and dependence on the external electricity grid by 80%, bringing us closer to the goal of having zero-emission data centers.”
With €3.6 million in funding over three years, RenewIT brings together seven European partners, including research centers and companies. Led by the Catalonia Institute for Energy Research (IREC), the project also includes the BSC-CNS, the energy consulting cooperative AIGUASOL, the Dutch multinational specializing in data center design Deerns, the Chemnitz University of Technology (Germany), the Italian data center monitoring company Loccioni Group, and the London-based telecommunications analyst firm 451 Research.

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