InRange, the enterprise power procurement platform, announced today our partnership with Iron Mountain Data Centers, a global data center company that provides colocation solutions, to deliver megawatts of carbon-free electricity to its London data center.
With volatile electricity prices in the UK nearly quintupling in the past two and a half years, demand for low cost renewable power is growing far faster than the grid’s ability to supply it.
Rooftop solar presents an enormous opportunity for clean power, as commercial and industrial (C&I) buildings in the UK could meet as much as 10% of the country’s total electricity needs. Yet, large energy users like data centers or manufacturers rarely have enough roof space to meet their energy needs, while warehouses have too little on-site energy demand to make solar installations on their huge rooftops worthwhile.
Capturing the opportunity
To capture this opportunity for local clean energy, InRange unlocks low-cost clean energy for large power users by connecting them to excess solar generation from sites in the same regional grid. By disrupting every facet of the energy procurement journey, InRange is creating a new energy asset class from C&I buildings with surplus capacity, transforming those buildings into distributed power plants through the installation of solar and energy storage.
Large power users like Iron Mountain Data Centers gain quick access to cheap, clean energy thats time-matched and locally sourced, while C&I building owners gain a seamless installation experience, additional revenue streams, higher property values, and lower energy bills. InRange estimates that these buildings can see electricity bills shrink by 25% to 50%, saving businesses an estimated £4.5 billion per year while slashing 3% of UK’s annual emissions– all from rooftops sitting idle today, without any additional land required.
Making the connection
InRange unlocks a new energy asset class by connecting two of the fastest-growing industries in the UK: data centers and warehouses. The UK C&I warehouse sector offers 350 million square meters of warehouse space, expected to grow by 60% over the next decade. If utilized for rooftop solar power, just one-third of solar generation would provide 100% of the warehouse’s energy needs, leaving two-thirds available for sale. Meanwhile, energy-hungry data centers will soon be 5% of all UK energy demand. Since data centers can only meet 10% or less of their energy demand from on-site generation, they rely on grid purchases to meet the remaining 90%. By connecting that additional demand with the excess supply from nearby warehouses, data centers can lower electricity costs, transition to 100% time and location matched carbon-free energy, and generate solid returns for REITs.
InRange’s partnership with Iron Mountain Data Centers starts with an agreement to supply 5 MW of carbon-free electricity annually for its London (LON-1) data center. The energy is to be aggregated from locally-generated rooftop solar power from C&I buildings. With a growing global portfolio of data centers, Iron Mountain Data Centers is using its significant power demand to have a positive impact on its local communities by aligning financial incentives with power system flexibility.
“InRange’s innovative platform is completely unique,” says Chris Pennington, Director of Energy and Sustainability at Iron Mountain Data Centers. “It enables Iron Mountain to export clean energy from our lower consumption records centers and contract for locally produced rooftop power for our data centers, all in one interface.”
John Mushriqui, founder and CEO of InRange, has identified friction points that inhibited C&I customers from adopting renewable energy generation, and jumped on the opportunity to make it far more seamless. “Energy generation just isn’t in the business DNA of most companies; they want a 1-stop shop to bring their carbon footprint down and lower their energy bills. That’s what we provide, while feeding more clean electricity back to the grid and to large power customers like Iron Mountain.”
The promise of decarbonizing industrial and business parks in the outskirts of every major city has helped InRange secure funding from Lowercarbon Capital, joined by Voyager, Octopus Ventures, and high profile angels to scale their offering to more businesses.
“Power bills for commercial and industrial are skyrocketing. Meanwhile, the power demand of these same operations drives close to 10% of annual emissions in the UK, US, and EU. Cheap, clean energy is a no-brainer, but incentives aren’t always well aligned. InRange closes the gap, making clean energy both the most seamless and affordable choice,” says Clea Kolster, Partner at Lowercarbon Capital.