Flexible Datacenter Workload Routing for Renewable Energy Curtailment
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Solution Overview
Problem
The issue of curtailment in renewable energy generation, where wind and solar generators are forced to reduce output due to grid stability and congestion issues, leading to economic losses and waste of available energy, is not effectively addressed by existing technologies.
Innovation Solution
A system comprising flexible datacenters that utilize behind-the-meter power input systems to modulate power delivery based on monitored conditions and operational directives, allowing for dynamic routing of computational operations to optimize energy use and reduce waste.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If renewable energy generators increase output to meet demand, then energy supply is improved, but transmission congestion and grid stability issues worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the datacenter workload into multiple virtual machines and containers that can be dynamically distributed across different physical datacenters. This segmentation allows flexible allocation of computational tasks to regions with available renewable energy capacity, thereby increasing overall energy supply utilization while avoiding transmission congestion at any single location.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements dynamic workload routing that continuously monitors renewable energy availability, grid conditions, and datacenter capacity. The routing control system dynamically adjusts workload distribution in real-time based on changing conditions, enabling the system to adapt to varying renewable energy output and grid stability requirements, thus maximizing energy supply while preventing transmission congestion.
2Device complexity
If workloads are concentrated in single datacenters for operational simplicity, then device complexity is reduced, but reliability worsens
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple datacenters into a unified virtualized environment where workloads can be freely migrated and distributed. By combining the computational resources of multiple physical datacenters while presenting a unified operational interface through virtualization, the system achieves both operational simplicity and enhanced reliability through automatic failover and load balancing capabilities.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the operational parameters of datacenter workloads by introducing dynamic routing decisions based on multiple variables including energy availability, cost, and reliability requirements. This parameter-based approach allows the system to automatically adjust workload distribution to maintain high availability while keeping operational complexity manageable through automated control.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems include one or more critical datacenter connected to behind-the-meter flexible datacenters. The critical datacenter is powered by grid power and not necessarily collocated with the flexible datacenters, which are powered “behind the meter.” When a computational operation to be performed at the critical datacenter is identified and determined that it can be performed more efficiently or advantageously at a flexible datacenter, the computational operation is instead obtained by the flexible datacenters for performance. The critical datacenter and flexible datacenters preferably share a dedicated communication pathway to enable high-bandwidth, low-latency, secure data transmissions. In some situations, a computational operation is supported by multiple datacenters in a redundant arrangement, such as multiple flexible datacenters.