RF Code has helped one of Hong Kong’s major power companies slash its data center costs by using its environmental and power management systems.

There are two power companies in Hong Kong with a long history in the territory. These two vertically integrated companies are CLP Power Hong Kong Limited (CLP) and Hongkong Electric Company Limited (HEC), both dating back to the early days of the colony.

Both are turning to companies such as RF Code to help them manage their ancient power infrastructure more efficiently.

By 2019, Frost & Sullivan forecasts the data center market to be worth $802m in Hong Kong alone. According to the analyst, Hong Kong power costs are predicted to rise by 40% in the next five years.

CLP, (formerly China Light and Power) was formed in 1901 and it supplies electricity to more than 2.2m customers. CLP owns and operates 6,908 MW of generation and over 13,700 km of transmission and distribution lines. In 2010, CLP recorded a new high maximum demand of 6,766 MW.

Despite an 80% increase in local electricity demand over the past two decades, CLP's total greenhouse gas emissions in Hong Kong in 2010 were reduced by more than 82% compared with the 1990 level.

The Hongkong Electric Company Limited (HEC) is even older, having been founded in 1889. It is one of the world’s longest surviving power companies. It supplies electricity to over 560,000 customers. It is known to be environmentally conscious and between 2005 and 2010, it reduced its emissions of sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and respirable suspended particulates by 47% to 82%. A 13% reduction in CO2 emission was recorded in the same period.

Though RF Code cannot name its client, both power companies are known to be anxious to reduce their data center carbon emissions.

Figures are not available for the scale of power consumption at either company’s data center, but the methods employed by RF Code can be revealed.

It identified and solved a number of age old problems in the legacy data centers, such as: condensation that was accumulating beneath the data room floor: steadily rising temperatures due to a variable refrigerant volume and variable refrigerant flow (VRF/VRV) failure: hot and cold spots in equipment racks and computer rooms caused by improper or inadequate air circulation.

By identifying the above and addressing them, RF Code helped the company avoid issues relating to inefficiency and downtime, said CEO Ed Healy.

“I am very pleased with the results experienced by this customer and am excited by the opportunities to do the same for the many IT-dependent organisations in Asia,” said Healy.