Data Center Generator Market - Global Outlook & Forecast 2024-2029
By investment, the global data center generator market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 10.36% from 2023 to 2029.
MARKET TRENDS
Sustainable Generator Innovations
The growth in power demand from the data center sector and the growing emphasis on sustainability have resulted in substantial advancements in generator fuel technology in the data center generator market. These advancements include developing and using numerous fuel types such as HVO, natural gas, hydrogen fuel cells, and eco-diesel.
Some colocation providers, such as LCL Data centers, Datum Datacenters, Compass Datacenters, Interxion (Digital Realty), Kao Data, and Ark Data centers, are investing in HVO-fuel generators. Similarly, hyperscale operators such as AWS have announced their plans to use HVO-fuel backup generators to power their data centers, beginning with facilities in Dublin, Ireland. The company has ambitions to expand this move to all European data centers.
Adoption of Fuel-Cell Generators
In the ever-changing world of data center operations, a noticeable trend toward sustainability is growing, pushing the adoption of novel solutions. One such idea is to integrate fuel-cell generators to meet the high-power demands of facilities in the data center generator market. Equinix, for example, intends to explore the viability of using hydrogen-powered fuel cells to power its Singapore data centers.
Several infrastructure providers, including Caterpillar, Ballard Power Systems, ABB, AFC Energy, Atos, and HDF Energy, are actively expanding and refining their fuel cell generator product offerings, demonstrating a concerted effort to augment sustainable practices within the industry.
Automation of Infrastructure
In response to the growing concerns about outages and extended downtime, data center operators are dedicating more resources to infrastructure automation solutions.
These solutions cover a wide range of technologies, including Software-Defined Data Centers (SDDCs), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM) systems, and remote facility operations management.
SEGMENTATION INSIGHTS
In the world of generator sets, there is a widespread preference for units with capacities ranging from 1.5 MW to 3 MW, especially among varied establishments.
Hyperscale data centers are expected to use generators with capacities exceeding 3 MW. On the other hand, smaller operators and edge facilities are more likely to invest in generators with capacities of up to 1.5 MW in the data center generator market.
Modular data center deployments mostly rely on generators with a power capacity of less than 1 MW, which are also popular among small-scale operators in underdeveloped countries due to their low cost. Furthermore, the use of portable generators is becoming more frequent.
Diesel generators are still the most popular procurement choice worldwide, but some facilities are switching to gas generators; for instance, the Tokyo Otemachi data center of Colt Data Center Services has 4,500 kVA gas turbine generators with N+1 redundancy.
Many data centers aspire to carbon neutrality as part of their environmental goals. Thus, operators are progressively incorporating novel technology into their facilities. These include fuel-cell, HVO-fuel, and eco-diesel generators, which attempt to reduce or eliminate carbon emissions from operations.
Equinix recently opened its SV11 data center in Silicon Valley. The center uses Bloom Energy's fuel cells as its primary power source and has a total capacity of 20 MW throughout the campus.
Equinix intends to expand the use of fuel cells in its data centers in New York, Los Angeles, and Silicon Valley.
Diesel Rotary Uninterruptible Power Supply (DRUPS) systems are widely used in APAC, Europe, and Latin America.
Market leaders in this field include Rolls Royce, Caterpillar, Piller Group, Hitzinger, and Hitech Power Protection. These systems integrate UPS and generator operations into a single unit, providing over 96% efficiency and considerable space savings in data centers.
SEGMENTATION ANALYSIS
Segmentation by System Capacity
0–1.5 MW
1.5–3 MW
>=3 MW
Segmentation by System
DRUPS systems
Diesel, Gas & Bi-fuel Generators
HVO Fuel
Fuel Cells
Segmentation by Tier Standard
Tier I & II
Tier III
Tier IV
Segmentation by Geography
North America
The U.S.
Canada
Latin America
Brazil
Mexico
Chile
Colombia
Rest of Latin America
Western Europe
The U.K.
Germany
France
Netherlands
Ireland
Switzerland
Italy
Spain
Belgium
Other Western European Countries
Nordics
Denmark
Sweden
Norway
Finland & Iceland
Central & Eastern Europe
Russia
Poland
Other Central & Eastern Europe
Middle East
UAE
Saudi Arabia
Israel
Other Middle Eastern Countries
Africa
South Africa
Kenya
Nigeria
Other African countries
APAC
China
Hong Kong
Australia
New Zealand
India
Japan
South Korea
Taiwan
Rest of APAC
Southeast Asia
Singapore
Indonesia
Malaysia
Thailand
Philippines
Vietnam
Other Southeast Asian Countries
VENDOR LANDSCAPE
ABB, Caterpillar, Cummins, Generac Power Systems, HITEC Power Protection, KOHLER, Rolls-Royce, INNIO, and Yanmar (HIMOINSA) are the major global data center generator market companies.
These firms provide generator systems with their own engines, including engines from other manufacturers such as MTU, Perkins, Mitsubishi, Deutz, Volvo, Iveco, FG Wilson, and John Deere.
The introduction of fuel cell generators, which are expected to achieve commercial momentum by 2025, poses a big threat to diesel generator systems.
Infrastructure companies, such as Caterpillar, Ballard Power Systems, Rolls Royce, ABB, INNIO, Atos, Plug Power, and HDF Energy, are actively conducting research and development to incorporate fuel cell generators and utilizing eco-diesel inside data centers.
Numerous manufacturers are anticipated to execute pilot projects over the next two years to evaluate the viability and usefulness of these technologies in data center environments.
INMESOL and KOHLER have launched new generators that use HVO fuel in the data center generator market. Many vendors prioritize system innovation by lowering carbon dioxide emissions, driven by the global carbon taxation laws governments implement.
Key Vendor Profiles
ABB
Business Overview
Product Offerings
Caterpillar
Cummins
Generac Power Systems
HITEC Power Protection
KOHLER
Rolls-Royce
Yanmar (HIMOINSA)
Other Prominent Vendors
Aggreko
Business Overview
Product Offerings
Aksa Power Generation
Alterra Power Systems (Palmer Johnson)
Atlas Copco
Ausonia
CK Power
DCS Technology
Detroit Diesel
DEUTZ
Enrogen
FG Wilson
Genesal Energy
HITZINGER Electric Power
INMESOL
INNIO
JCB
Kirloskar Oil Engines
Mainspring
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
ONIS VISA
Perkins Engines
Plug Power
Vital Power
KEY QUESTIONS ANSWERED:
1. How big is the global data center generator market?
2. What are the key trends in the data center generator market?
3. What is the growth rate of the global data center generator market?
4. How many MW of power capacity is expected to reach the global data center generator market by 2029?
5. Who are the key players in the global data center generator market?
1. REPORT COVERAGE
1.1. WHAT’S INCLUDED
1.2. SEGMENTAL COVERAGE
1.2.1. MARKET SEGMENTATION BY SYSTEM
1.2.2. MARKET SEGMENTATION BY SYSTEM CAPACITY
1.2.3. MARKET SEGMENTATION BY TIER STANDARD
2. MARKET AT A GLANCE
3. PREMIUM INSIGHTS
3.1. KEY HIGHLIGHTS
3.2. MARKET TRENDS
3.2.1. Sustainable generator innovations
3.2.2. Adoption of fuel-cell generators
3.2.3. Automation of infrastructure
3.3. SEGMENTATION ANALYSIS
3.4. VENDOR LANDSCAPE
4. INTRODUCTION
4.1. POWER ARCHITECTURE IN DATA CENTERS
5. MARKET OPPORTUNITIES & TRENDS
5.1. ADOPTION OF INNOVATIVE GENERATORS
5.1.1. HVO fuel
5.1.2. Natural gas generators
5.1.3. Eco-diesel generators
5.1.4. Hydrogen cells
5.2. 5G DEPLOYMENT ACCELERATES EDGE DATA CENTER DEPLOYMENTS
5.3. AUTOMATION & REMOTE MONITORING
5.4. REGULATIONS FOR THE USE & PROCUREMENT OF ELECTRIC GENERATORS
6. MARKET GROWTH ENABLERS
6.1. DEPLOYMENT OF MODULAR DATA CENTERS & GENSETS
6.2. INCREASED POWER OUTAGES IN DATA CENTERS
7. MARKET RESTRAINTS
7.1. CARBON EMISSIONS BY DATA CENTERS
7.2. LOW ADOPTION OF GENERATORS IN REGIONS WITH STRONG POWER GRID FACILITIES