Technology development and digital transition strategies are leading to high demand for connection nodes and infrastructure where vast amounts of data can be stored and managed. And the same goes for cloud computing and artificial intelligence. That’s why the data centre market is experiencing such a massive boon as an essential component in all these processes. The Spanish market is leading the way in Europe. In large part because it’s paying very close attention to one differentiating factor – energy efficiency.

What happens in a data centre?

Data centres are nothing more than physical facilities where servers hosting sensitive or critical information are stored, whether in the public or private sector. Alongside the racks or spaces where the servers themselves can be installed and connected, data centres have to consider lots of other aspects and services to ensure their facilities are safe and secure, and offer good value for money:

• Physical security: measures that guarantee data centres are impenetrable buildings, avoiding any unauthorised access or physical manipulation of servers by third parties.
• Software security: all the applications and countermeasures that guarantee data is kept entirely secure at all times. This typically involves firewalls, antivirus, systems against DDOS attacks, anti-hacking software, etc.
• Connectivity: with so much data that needs to be able to move around the world at the click of a mouse, centres need to offer robust, high-capacity, low-latency networks with unbeatable transmission efficiency.
• Energy: data centres house a massive amount of equipment that uses up vast amounts of energy, both individually and collectively.
• Cooling: when you’ve got so much equipment demanding so much power all the time, as servers tend to do, the temperature obviously goes up, which is a concern both for the efficiency of the data centre itself and the functionality of all the computers connected within it.

Why is energy efficiency so important?

Data centres are absolutely essential for efficient information management, but they’re concerning when it comes to energy consumption. In fact, data centres are responsible for 3% of global energy use and are expected to reach 4% by 2030. There’s currently huge awareness of the need to balance functionality, productivity and responsibility in terms of energy use nowadays. According to the first National Survey of Sustainability in Technology Infrastructure, produced by Data Centre World and the Spanish Association of Data Centres, Spain DC, data centres in Spain have implemented various measures to improve their energy efficiency ratings, including advanced cooling systems, use of more energy-efficient equipment, as well as smart and automatic energy management technologies. According to the publication, 55% of companies surveyed – over 300 in total, including the main technology stakeholders in the country – already operate using certified renewable energies, a percentage that’s above the European average.

Spain is a world leader in energy-efficient data centres

The executive director of Spain DC, Manuel Giménez, recently said that “data centres are sustainable natives” in Spain. According to Giménez, the fact the Spanish digital industry is developing a little behind the United States and northern Europe “has meant that our facilities are at the forefront internationally when it comes to energy efficiency, innovation and responsible use of natural resources”.

Looking to the future, in order to make even more efficiency savings, many companies are looking to nuclear energy, which is considered efficient, clean and cost-effective. In fact, 70% of the organisations surveyed thought it was an interesting market opportunity. However, access to this type of energy is complex and expensive to implement from scratch. Just 47% of companies who say they’re interested have effective access to it already, but it could certainly be one to watch for the future.