Intelligent power management company Eaton has announced it will expand its collaboration with technology group Microsoft to accelerate applications of its EnergyAware uninterruptible power system (UPS) technology in key segments worldwide.

The expansion is part of a new strategic framework agreement between Eaton and Microsoft designed to address industry developments including digital transformation, sustainability and the energy transition.

A key element of the strategic framework agreement is the inclusion of Eaton’s proprietary EnergyAware UPS technology in Microsoft projects.

The primary function of a UPS is to provide backup power protection for mission-critical applications and facilities and to protect them from grid outages or power quality issues, Eaton explains.

It says that through close collaboration over several years, Eaton and Microsoft have added digital capabilities to the UPS, which allows it to be used as a distributed energy resource (DER) to support grids with high levels of variable renewable energy generation.

“This will allow for a new generation of ‘grid-interactive’ data centres, including those operated by Microsoft, to support grid operators with the provision of critical flexibility services.

“Selling flexibility into the grid is an opportunity for data centres to monetise underutilised assets, for example by providing energy storage and supplying the fast frequency response services that grid operators will increasingly need as renewable capacity increases and the grid loses the inertia associated with fossil fuel generation,” Eaton states.

“A grid-interactive UPS helps decarbonise energy at grid level which means that its sustainability benefit extends beyond the data centre. This changes the game in terms of energy management within the data centre’s overall environmental impact profile,” says Eaton Energy Transition and Digital division GM and senior VP Craig McDonnell.