Data centers will become a “big market for batteries”, increasing over the next five years as operators prioritize power security and look to cut their environmental footprint. So said Sebastian Gerhard, director of batteries within Vattenfall AB’s solar and battery unit, in an interview with BNEF. The Swedish utility is speaking to data center owners about the benefits of installing an onsite battery for uninterrupted power supply in case of grid failure. At a minimum, these batteries would be 15 megawatts in capacity per site. So there is potential for “significant market volume”, Gerhard added. Vattenfall is also targeting commercial and industrial customers in Germany to install onsite batteries, particularly those companies that pay high grid connection fees. Batteries can be used to reduce site consumption during peak hours of demand, which lowers the impact on the grid and can save customers “10 to 20 percent off the kilowatt […]