Optimal Peak Shaving Using Batteries at Datacenters: Characterizing the Risks and Benefits

Neda Nasiriani, George Kesidis, Di Wang

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

9 Scopus citations

Abstract

A datacenter's power consumption is a major contributor to its operational expenditures (op-ex) and one-time capital expenditures (cap-ex). The recurring electricity cost is often in large determined by datacenter peak-demand under peak-based pricing which is employed by major electric utility providers. There is a growing interest in reducing a datacenter's electricity costs by using throttling techniques and/or energy storage devices (batteries) which are readily available at most datacenters as a backup energy source. A datacenter's power-demand uncertainty makes this a challenging problem, which is largely neglected in existing work, by assuming perfect predictability of power demand. We model this inherent uncertainty as a Markov chain and also evaluate the risk of over/under charging batteries as a result of the randomness in power demand. We design an online optimization framework for peak shaving which considers Conditional Value at Risk and allows for navigating cost-risk trade-offs of datacenters based on their energy infrastructure and workload characteristics. We show that this framework offers significantly higher (up to 2X) cost-savings with small risks of over/under charging batteries, compared to existing stochastic optimization techniques. This framework leverages Markov Decision Processes to perform online dynamic peak shaving, considering battery degradation costs under peak-based pricing.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationProceedings - 25th IEEE International Symposium on Modeling, Analysis and Simulation of Computer and Telecommunication Systems, MASCOTS 2017
PublisherInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
Pages164-174
Number of pages11
ISBN (Electronic)9781538627631
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 13 2017
Event25th IEEE International Symposium on Modeling, Analysis and Simulation of Computer and Telecommunication Systems, MASCOTS 2017 - Banff, Canada
Duration: Sep 20 2017Sep 22 2017

Publication series

NameProceedings - 25th IEEE International Symposium on Modeling, Analysis and Simulation of Computer and Telecommunication Systems, MASCOTS 2017

Other

Other25th IEEE International Symposium on Modeling, Analysis and Simulation of Computer and Telecommunication Systems, MASCOTS 2017
Country/TerritoryCanada
CityBanff
Period9/20/179/22/17

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Computer Networks and Communications
  • Hardware and Architecture
  • Modeling and Simulation

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