A Cypriot company has inaugurated a pilot data centre in Limassol with the dual purpose of providing digital services while potentially absorbing excess renewable energy that would otherwise be curtailed from the electrical grid.
The initiative aims to transform the traditionally high energy consumption of data centres into an advantage for the national power grid by functioning as an indirect energy storage mechanism, a practice already employed in several other countries to address costly energy storage challenges.
The company has already presented this concept to the Transmission System Operator, requesting research into the possibility of directly absorbing energy that would otherwise be rejected from the grid, thereby reducing solar photovoltaic curtailment.
Data centres house computing, telecommunications and storage infrastructure that process massive volumes of information, run data storage programs and cloud computing services, while simultaneously producing computational power necessary for artificial intelligence, cryptocurrency mining, scientific research and big data analysis.
While these facilities enable countless digital transactions and services from e-commerce to social media access, they require substantial energy inputs to function, creating both challenges and opportunities for grid management.
Through the Limassol pilot project, researchers will evaluate how larger data centres could absorb surplus energy during low demand periods and reduce their operations when consumer demand peaks, effectively creating a flexible load on the electrical system.
Christos Tsingis, a renewable energy business consultant, told local media that similar approaches merit serious investigation by Cyprus’ grid operators, noting that beyond batteries, “there are several other more modern energy storage technologies considered ideal for network operators that should be explored and evaluated.”
Tsingis cited examples from the United States, particularly Texas, where grid operators use data centres for network balancing through flexible demand management programs. “Data centres can participate in flexible demand management programs, reducing energy consumption during peak periods. This helps stabilise the grid by adjusting the overall load and preventing renewable energy curtailment,” he explained.
The consultant also highlighted additional energy storage alternatives such as hydrogen production systems, which use electrolysis to split water into hydrogen and oxygen, storing hydrogen for future use in fuel cells or specialised generators. Green hydrogen production could potentially be combined with water desalination, addressing multiple resource challenges in Cyprus.
“The cost of hydrogen production may seem expensive today, but we need to think long term,” Tsingis emphasised, noting that when renewable energy is curtailed, “green electricity is lost while simultaneously consuming ‘dirty’ electricity from fossil fuels that pollutes the environment and costs consumers extra in pollution penalties.”
