GRID CHARGES: DILEMMA OF A DATA CENTER OPERATOR

Gunzenhausen – 1. December 2014

Hetzner Online is supporting the “World Community Grid“ project for several weeks by placing 1,100 servers in its own data centers at the project's disposal. 

World Community Grid provides researchers with a platform to perform scientific calculations on donated computing power. Through the installation of certain software, anyone can support the non-commercial project and place their unused computing capacity at the disposal of research. 

The 1,100 servers provided by Hetzner Online make the company the second largest supporter of this project after IBM and involved in the following humanitarian programs: 

- “Outsmart Ebola Together“ - The screening of substance molecules in the fight against Ebola 

- “FightAIDS@Home“ - The search for new AIDS treatments 

- “Mapping Cancer Markers“ - The identification of tumour markers by comparing tissue samples 

- “Uncovering Genome Mysteries“ - The comparison of approx. 200 million proteins from the gene pool of a multitude of organisms 

Further information on the project is available at http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org. 

Why Hetzner Online is involved in this campaign. 

In accordance with section 19 of the Electricity Grid Charges Ordinance (StromNEV), companies can under certain circumstances negotiate individual grid access fees. Depending on its power consumption, companies receive reimbursement from the network operator for charges incurred by the user. 

Specifically, this means that at least 7000 hours of use and 10 GWh of power consumption must be reached at a single point of delivery. To fulfill these requirements, power consumption must be relatively constant. 

Unfortunately, many companies do not achieve the criteria for the requirements stated by the Federal Network Agency in the course of their normal business operations. This often results in companies using energy unnecessarily during “low load“ periods, so as not to lose the advantages offered under section 19 of StromNEV and to fulfill the conditions for the reimbursement of grid fees. 

From an economic point of view, a company has to concur with unnecessary energy consumption, as this represents a significant cost factor. For example, with approx. 25,000 euros of additional energy costs, savings of up to a million euros in grid fees can be made. 

In view of its ecological orientation, Hetzner Online is strictly against unnecessary energy consumption and looked for a more sensible way to use additional energy. It was decided to place the computing power of 1,100 servers at the disposal of the World Community Grid humanitarian research project. 

Discussions with energy suppliers unfortunately confirm that other companies frequently do not have the possibility of increasing their energy consumption through the support of useful and helpful projects. Rather, power is often wasted through completely pointless use such as, for example, the use of electrical heaters which have been specially procured for this purpose. 

On the one hand companies are expected to operate in as energy-efficient a way as possible, on the other legislation triggers an ecological conflict situation as companies suffer considerable financial disadvantages, if they forego the excess energy consumption. 

Hetzner Online would welcome a modification in policy of the requirements under section 19 of StromNEV, so that companies no longer have the motivation to behave incorrectly from an ecological point of view, as a result of economic incentives. Such a change could stop unnecessary power consumption and save valuable energy.