Leaders with Arizona Public Service (APS) and Aligned Data Centers, which is part of Aligned Energy, recently met to discuss the ongoing changes and needs within the data center industry.

They also talked about how the industry must continue to improve power delivery and increase reliability despite the new challenges and changes.

Data centers make up a large amount of the static loads that take up grid space because the centers store information that needs higher reliability and power quality levels than the majority of other large electricity users.

With a better design and improved collaborations, Aligned and APS can change the data center so that it will be separate from the grid, allowing more space during grid congestion times.

“Our utility team worked closely with APS to engineer dedicated utility infrastructure that can accommodate the dynamic power and high-availability requirements of large enterprises and hyper-scale service providers,” Aligned CEO Jakob Carnemark said. “While we deliver full UPS and generator infrastructure for back-up power to our data center clients, we partnered with APS to deliver base utility power that, by itself, was more reliable than most data centers on the market today.”

This new design will help customers have more effective grid access and reliability. This next generation microgrid will be established in a new 69-kilovolt enhanced-capability substation. It will have four separate power lines with three electricity sources, proactively preparing for electricity outages.

“This is a win-win initiative,” APS Director of Technology Innovation Scott Bordenkircher said. “Our customers will see the benefits of increased reliability and power quality, and it will be more attractive for new businesses to locate to Arizona.”