Life-cycle-based multi-objective optimal design and analysis of distributed multi-energy systems for data centers

The widespread deployment of data centers has contributed to a dramatic increase in energy consumption and carbon emissions. To solve this problem, this study proposes a distributed multi-energy system (DMES) driven by solar, wind, geothermal and natural gas and its life-cycle-based multi-objective optimization model considered energy, economy, and environment. Moreover, a novel operation strategy based on load characteristics is presented for energy flow allocation and a multi-objective grasshopper optimization algorithm is improved for model solving. Case studies are conducted on a practical data center in Qinghai, China. Based on the DMES capacity configuration and scheduling results, the cooling, heating and power supply can satisfy the demand of the data center while generating over 30% of the power from renewable sources. In addition, carbon tax is considered in the optimization model, which accounts for 4% of the life-cycle cost. Furthermore, the sensitivity of carbon tax, equipment lifespan and predicted mean vote is analyzed, obtaining that these factors have some influence on the performance of the system. Finally, the uncertainty impact on system planning is studied, concluding that the designed system exhibits high robustness levels when renewable energy forecast error is less than 20% or load forecast error is less than 10%.