Bridge Data Centres, Ecoceres use biofuel as backup energy to power data centres

[KUALA LUMPUR] Singapore-headquartered hyperscale data centre provider Bridge Data Centres (BDC) said on Tuesday (May 12) that it had successfully completed a pilot test with biofuels firm Ecoceres using vegetable oil as backup fuel to power data centres.

The pilot used hydrotreated vegetable oil, or HVO, at BDC’s Asia-Pacific data centres for emergency backup power, including generator startup, load transfer and sustained operations, BDC said in a statement.

The company, backed by US-based investment firm Bain Capital, noted that the HVO was derived from waste-based feedstock and would serve as a substitute for conventional diesel, adding that no modifications were needed to existing backup generators.

EcoCeres is a biofuel producer also backed by Bain as well as Hong Kong’s city gas company Towngas.

The usage of HVO fuel would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 90 per cent compared to diesel, BDC pointed out, adding that it intends to further deploy HVO-powered solutions across its data centre sites.

HVO fuel is reliable and can perform at scale and allow a significant reduction in emissions for data centres, EcoCeres chief executive Matti Lievonen said in the same statement.

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EcoCeres currently has plants in Zhangjiagang, China and Johor Bahru, where it produces renewable fuels including HVO, sustainable aviation fuel, as well as bio-naphtha.

BDC’s biofuel move comes amid rising demand for power to accommodate a surge in data centre construction in South-east Asia.

BDC, which constructs large data infrastructure areas known as hyperscale sites, serves global tech clients and cloud service providers at facilities in Malaysia, Thailand and India, according to its website. It did not name the firms. REUTERS