Keppel Data Centres Holding and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Asia Pacific have inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to jointly explore the implementation of a hydrogen-power plant concept for data centers in Singapore.

Hydrogen power plant

The objective is to study how a hydrogen powered tri-generation plant can support a data center in an environmentally friendly manner. The data center can access the electricity produced by the plant, and leverage the chilled water produced by absorption chillers to cool the data center’s systems and facilities.

Hydrogen as an energy source can potentially be more environmentally friendly as the combustion of hydrogen releases energy without producing greenhouse gas emissions. However, unless the hydrogen is produced using renewable energy sources, varying amount of carbon dioxide is typically created.

As part of the MoU, Keppel Data Centres and MHI-AP will also explore producing hydrogen fuel for the tri-generation plant through the steam methane reforming (SMR) process. The plan is to incorporate carbon capture and storage capabilities to keep the process is carbon neutral.

“As a leading designer, developer, and operator of data centers across Asia Pacific and Europe, Keppel Data Centres is committed to drive sustainable solutions for the industry. The exploration of hydrogen infrastructure is part of our strategy to work towards decarbonization,” said Wong Wai Meng, CEO of Keppel Data Centres, noting that Keppel Data Centres will tap Mitsubishi’s long-term expertise in hydrogen.

One possible data center project that might benefit from this hydrogen powered tri-generation plant concept would be the floating data center park project. Initiated by Keppel Data Centres, it had previously been reported to use either LNG or hydrogen infrastructure for its power and cooling plants.