Rolls-Royce, along with its distributor partner Knopf & Wallisch (K&W), has supplied three mtu customized and containerized combined cooling, heat, and power plant (CCHP) trigeneration units to Romanian cloud service provider ClusterPower. They will be used for the efficient and sustainable energy supply at its new technology campus near the southern Romanian city of Craiova, where the IT company will open the largest data center in Romania. 

The generator sets are based on mtu 20-V 4000 L64 FNER gas engines, which fulfil the strictest emissions standards, allow for quick ramp-up and ramp-down, offer a wide range of load operations, and high performance at high temperatures. The gensets are hydrogen-ready, offering the ability to blend 25% hydrogen along with natural gas as the fuel and can even be transformed into a pure hydrogen engine in the future. In this way, they contribute to the reduction of CO₂ emissions. This was an important factor for ClusterPower when selecting a partner to supply the energy system for the project.

“We need a very reliable and sustainable solution and a company that is innovative enough to match our ambitions,” said Cosmin Georgescu, CEO of ClusterPower. “Therefore, we are proud of our partnership with Rolls-Royce and the mtu brand. It is a relationship of trust based on common goals like using an innovative and environmental-centric technology for the benefit of our clients.

“One of the most important values ClusterPower embraces is trust,” Georgescu continued. “It is the central element of our relationship with our customers, partners, and all those involved in this project.
 The 273,000-square-meter campus is being built with the aim of increasing Romania’s competitiveness in global IT infrastructure and is the first hyperscale data center in south-eastern Europe. (Hyperscale data centers are characterized by the fact that they can be scaled hugely and quickly.) All five data centers are scheduled for completion in 2025. During this time, ClusterPower plans to expand its gas-fired power plant to a total capacity of 200 MW and, thus, produce its own sustainable electricity.

The first of the five data centers will open its doors in the first quarter of 2022. The mtu CCHP units supply electricity, heat, and cooling for the building and the infrastructure. The concept to use the gas gensets as prime power producing electricity while using the main grid as backup is a unique configuration that is currently rarely seen. Guided by ClusterPower’s requests, K&W developed a highly efficient solution to capture most of the exhaust heat from the system with conversion chillers and transform it into chilled air to cool the data center facilities. 

“I think that Romania has a lot to say about the European future of innovation and digitalization, and we have the opportunity here to develop new infrastructures, using the latest technologies and with modern environmental standards,” said Georgescu. “We are lucky enough to start fresh and we will put this opportunity to good use. It is always nice to know that we have partners ready to support us in our endeavors.”