Techno-economic modeling reveals levelized energy costs of $0.108–$0.123/kWh for hybrid renewable systems in data centers, indicating a viable alternative to conventional diesel power.
Data centers (DCs) are a very energy intensive business and with the rising electricity demand, it is essential to have reliable, cost-effective and eco-friendly power facilities in Pakistan. The use and optimization of hybrid energy systems that utilize renewable energy sources for the Pakistani DCs have been given very little attention. A framework is developed in this research to optimize the integration of hybrid standalone renewable energy systems in 22 DCs in Islamabad, Karachi, and Lahore from techno-economic and environmental perspectives. The optimization results showed that the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) of the investigated DCs was in the range of USD 0.108 to 0.123/kWh, which highlighted the economic potential of the proposed systems. Based on the above analysis, it was found that PV-DG- battery systems are optimal in Islamabad and Lahore because of comparatively low wind potential. However, the PV-wind-DG-battery system is optimal for Karachi due to its comparatively high wind potential. The uncertainties of solar irradiance, wind speed, discount rate, and inflation rate were considered in the sensitivity analysis, and environmental analysis was done considering the associated carbon emissions. The outcomes show that hybrid renewable-energy systems can be a technically reliable, economically viable, and environmentally friendly alternative to the conventional diesel-based power supply for data centers in Pakistan depending on their location.
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Talib et al. (2026) studied this question.
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