Now in its sixth year, Data Centre World has moved to the ExCeL exhibition centre in London’s Docklands. The move across town from the rather antiquated London Olympia seemed to have paid off, with visitor numbers reportedly 20% up on 2012 and a notably buzzier atmosphere.
Product launches were relatively few and far between, with many critical power companies timing them either for Data Centre Dynamics last November, or the same event later this year.
Critical Power was given a sneak preview of a number of new products, but the headline news, perhaps, is that Riello UPS has sold two Vycon flywheel units to an as yet unnamed data centre in the UK.
This is big news for Riello UPS, which entered into an exclusive distribution agreement to distribute the Voltage Direct Connect (VDC) flywheel technology in Europe, Middle East and Africa in 2010. Much of the juicy detail was withheld ahead of the official announcement later this month, but Critical Power understands that pricing was close to standard quotes.
Borri launched their brand new Primacy range of UPS, exhibiting a unit straight from the factory without a fascia. The Italian firm claims the new range achieves the “highest overall efficiency levels available on the market”.
Don’t they all say that?! Well, Borri is claiming 99.5% in bypass operation (eco mode), but as almost nobody dares use eco mode, particularly for data centres, this is mostly academic. Figures for ‘Active Filter’ mode are up to 98% efficient and 96% at part load in ‘Green Conversion’ mode.
Primacy has launched in Europe, but in the UK Borri is currently testing equipment with a handful of customers before the expected full-scale launch in the summer.
Uninterruptible Power Supplies Limited (UPSL) is set to unveil an upgraded Powerwave 9000 series at the CeBIT IT show in Hannover, Germany later this month. The modular 9000 series range will be able to house up to 500 kVA Newave modules in a single cabinet; while the 8000 series will be available up to 200 kVa in a single cabinet, up from the current offering of 160 kVA.
GE Digital Energy said the power rating of its newly-launched TLE Series of UPS systems would be doubled from 400 kVA to 800 kVA in November.
UPS provider Mpower UPS said that it expected to receive the necessary paperwork from the UK government qualifying its single-phase Green Triera and three-phase Pyramid DSP ranges for the national Enhanced Capital Allowance (ECA) scheme. ECA allows customers additional tax relief on purchases of approved UPS systems.
Only sole distributors qualify for the scheme. Mpower UPS is the sole UK distributor for Turkish manufacturer Inform UPS.
Mpower UPS said it would be unleashing a slew of upgraded product ranges in the coming months, buoyed by heavy R&D investment by Inform, following its acquisition by France’s Legrand in 2010. Its Green Triera range, currently offered only in single-phase up to 10 kVA, will eventually be offered as three-phase UPS up to 300 kVA.
The higher rating means it will duplicate much of the offering of its Pyramid range, but Mpower UPS says the Green Triera will be more energy efficient.
Tripp Lite appeared at Data Centre World for the first time this year as part of a strategy to focus on UK operations. The US company has beefed up its UK sales channels by adding Tekdata to its line-up as a “value-added” distributor. The added value is expected to come from Tekdata hosting a series of seminars, events and training programmes to focus on customer service.
Tripp Lite recently launched a new 120 kVA, three-phase, SmartOnline KX2 Series UPS system. The units feature 20 kVA hot-swappable modules, operating up to 97% in eco mode.
