Energy measuring devices on the IN campus
Good quality data is the first step toward high energy efficiency. For this reason, Audi decided to use the EEM-EM377 energy measuring devices. Find out more about the challenges with planning and the solutions implemented.
The data center supports the future projects of AUDI AG with state-of-the-art hardware and software (image source: Audi MediaCenter)
Data-based high-level energy efficiency
Energy measuring devices in the Audi data center on the IN campus
The IN campus, a project of Audi AG and the city of Ingolstadt, is being built on a former refinery site in Ingolstadt, Germany. The first construction phase includes the Audi Vehicle Safety Center, which was completed in 2023. In the further course, a new data center with state-of-the-art IT components on an area of 2,000 m² was also planned. Data centers are energy-hungry infrastructures whose energy consumption must be optimized for a sustainable future. Audi decided to use energy meters from Phoenix Contact. They provide a good basis of data and, in turn, effective energy management. On this basis, potential is identified and measures for increasing energy efficiency are implemented.
Own cooling system: generation in the cooling system and demand-oriented distribution to the server rooms for a constant temperature depending on the season and power (image source: Audi MediaCenter)
The challenge
Energy management system for optimizing energy consumption
The environment in the data center must always be the same temperature. Since the installed power electronics generates a lot of heat, cooling is a major energy guzzler. Audi was faced with the challenge of reducing the high energy requirement of its data center, particularly given rising energy costs and the need for reducing carbon emissions. The building was planned, constructed, and operated on the basis of DIN EN 50600, which provides for the integration of an energy management system. Together with Congiv GmbH, Audi has developed a tailor-made energy management system (EMS) to reduce the high energy requirements and costs in data centers and to protect the environment. The EMS records, consolidates, visualizes, and analyzes all energy-related values.
Each meter records around 60 electrical values, including current, voltage, active, reactive, and apparent power, energy (kWh), and the power factor (cosPhi). The four three-phase meters installed in one tap-off unit therefore collect [...] up to 240 measured values.
Image source: Audi MediaCenter
MID-certified energy meters in the EEM-EM377 series are used for active power measurement in networks up to 500 V/80 A (image source: Audi MediaCenter)
The solution
Communicative energy meters for effective energy management
Phoenix Contact supplies 1,200 three-phase energy meters (EEM-EM377) for the data center, which monitor and control energy efficiency. These meters are compact, easy to configure, and measure various electrical values. A busbar system connects the servers, storage, and network components, whereby the EEM-EM377 transmit data to the EMS via Ethernet. State-of-the-art IoT gateways, based on the Industrial Raspberry Pi, enable the connection and management of meter data that is processed and monitored in real time. This data helps Audi to optimize energy consumption and improve energy efficiency, which is a step toward the All Electric Society, a future with comprehensive electrification and sustainable power supply.
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Do you want to know more about implementing an energy-efficient data center? Learn more about the measures and solutions that Audi uses. Let yourself be inspired by how you can also benefit from these technologies.
The EMpro devices from Phoenix Contact are easy to integrate into existing systems and enable the efficient use of the acquired data. The EEM-EM377 energy measuring devices provide AUDI AG with the required data. By evaluating this data, measures for further improving energy efficiency can be identified. Reducing the energy demand in computer centers is another step forward in the All Electric Society. It describes a world in which sustainably generated energy is available in sufficient quantities and economically. Phoenix Contact enables industries to move in this strategic direction with its products, solutions, and services.
