European data center developer Verne has announced plans to transition to hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) to power the backup generators at its London data center in Farringdon. This move, in collaboration with Crown Oil, a Manchester-based fuels and lubricants distributor, will replace the site’s use of diesel.
The switch to HVO fuel is expected to significantly reduce the data center’s carbon footprint, cutting up to 90 percent of CO2 emissions from the generators. As a result, Verne will no longer require a greenhouse gas permit for the site. HVO, also known as renewable diesel, is made from sustainable raw materials such as animal fats and used cooking oils. It can be used as a direct replacement for diesel without needing modifications to existing equipment and can be blended with diesel. Additionally, HVO works well in both cold and warm climates.
Verne’s commitment to reducing its CO2 emissions includes the use of HVO as a key part of its sustainability strategy. This move follows a similar partnership Verne formed in Finland last year, where it teamed up with Neste Oyj to supply HVO to its Finnish data centers. Verne operates three data centers in Finland, including a 50MW facility in Helsinki, an 11MW center in Pori, and a colocation facility in Tampere.
Founded in September 2022, Verne is the result of a merger between London-based Volta Data Centres and Icelandic developer Verne Global. The company is now part of Triple Point’s Digital 9 Infrastructure (D9), which acquired Volta in April 2022.
HVO is becoming increasingly popular among European data center operators, with AWS in Sweden, Vantage in Wales, and Stack Infrastructure in Norway also adopting the fuel for their backup generators.
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