Secure and 100% Green Data Center and Cloud Services from Central Europe

According to the analysis of Mordor Intelligence, $181.91 billion is the value that the market of “green” data centers is expected to achieve by 2025. Consequently, it means a year-on-year increase of 23.01% in 5 years. It is also worth recalling that, in 2019, the market value was estimated at $53.19 billion.

Every year, more and more data centers will be powered by renewable energy and incorporate low carbon emission solutions. But there are data centers on the market who are game changers already and who have transformed their business in accordance with the principles of sustainable development. One example is Beyond.pl, a data center and cloud operator from Poznan in Poland, which is operating on 100% green energy, with a PUE of 1.2.

Sustainability in the DNA

Beyond.pl has been in the market since 2005. Located strategically in the heart of Europe, just 300 km from Berlin and Warsaw, it currently operates two data centers in Poznan: a 1MW (megawatt) edge data center in the city center and its 8MW core Data Center 2, which is in the process of expansion. In upcoming years, the campus will grow to 42MW and become one of the biggest colocation spots in the CEE.

For Beyond.pl, everything changed in 2016 when the company launched Data Center 2, whose security standards are above average in Europe. Data Center 2 is the first in the European Union and the only one in Central Europe that meets the strict ANSI/TIA-942 Rated 4 certificate requirements, which confirm the highest safety standards for design, building, and operations. But the company stands not only for security.

From the beginning, Beyond.pl was searching for solutions which can lower the carbon footprint of its business. Before building the new data center, the founders visited other data centers across Europe and US to gain inspiration and incorporate best practices in this area. And it ended up building one of the most energy efficient facilities in Poland, with a PUE of 1.2, and powered by 100% green energy. It is the first facility on the Polish data center market to feature an adiabatic cooling system, eliminating the traditional method of cooling racks with energy-intensive equipment. In addition, the heat generated by servers and other equipment in the data center chambers is recycled by Beyond.pl to heat its headquarter offices, logistics and staging facilities located on the campus.

As Wojciech Stramski, CEO of Beyond.pl, puts it: “I am aware that the Polish economy is not associated with green energy, but there is progress. And there are companies like Beyond.pl who are pushing a sustainable approach and who use only renewable energy to run their business. As a green data center with a PUE of 1.2, we consume much less green electricity, which can ultimately be made available for consumption in other fields. On the other hand, customers who colocate their infrastructure in our data centers are confident that their carbon footprint is reduced. I am proud that we are a front-runner in the Polish market, investing in world-class revolutionary green solutions. The environmental standards adhered to by Beyond.pl are on par with and even exceed those in Western Europe.”

Responsibility for the planet 

Another aspect of Beyond.pl’s sustainable approach is contribution to standardization. The company is involved in creating and developing climate neutral industry standards for the market.

The European Commission’s strategy assumes that data centers should be climate neutral by 2030. EU officials point out that the ICT sector already accounts for between 5% and 9% of global energy consumption and more than 2% of total CO2 emissions. In 2030, electricity consumption by data centers alone will increase from the current 2% to as much as 8%.

Currently, Beyond.pl is the only company representing the Polish private sector in the European Green Digital Coalition (EGDC) and committing to significantly reducing their carbon footprint by 2030, and to become climate neutral by 2040. In 2020, the company also signed the Data Center Climate Neutrality Pact. Both the Pact and the EGDC aim to create new standards for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and to bring Europe closer to achieving climate neutrality. 

“We consistently take conscious business decisions in order to ensure that we get as close as possible to being climate neutral. Taking measures to reduce the negative impact of data centers on the environment is essential. Especially given that some data centers today use as much energy as a small city. Importantly – and I am personally pleased about this – more and more customers have CO2 reduction included in their corporate values ​​and are more willing to choose partners operating according to sustainable development principles. This also applies to hyperscalers who colocate their servers in data centers that meet low CO2 emissions requirements,” Wojciech Stramski explains.

Beyond.pl continues its sustainable policy. Last year, the company announced its Poznan campus infrastructure expansion. The energy capacity will increase more than fivefold from the current 8MW to 42MW and will continue to be powered solely by renewable sources, while its floor space will increase to almost four times the size. Following completion, Beyond.pl will become one of the biggest green colocation facilities of its kind in Central Europe. 

Muzaffer Ege is a dynamic management professional with advanced knowledge in general management disciplines based on international standards. He has 22 years of experience in the data center sector serving national and international customers, a proven ability to combine strategy with organizational change and people, a strong record of increasing profitability and improving operational efficiencies, with a superior client service rating.