Energy crisis

From a political, economic and social perspective, the energy crisis 2022 posed and continues to pose major challenges for our society. One of the main problems is, without doubt, the exceptional increase in the price of energy commodities. There is also a risk of blackouts, which is something we have not faced for many years. This issue has received widespread coverage in the media recently and been the subject of numerous debates. Unaffordable energy prices are worrisome for both private consumers and companies. Political and business leaders are being forced to find solutions.  

The energy crisis 2022 has its origin in the war in Ukraine. The West’s clear support for Ukraine and the associated sanctions against Russia quickly led to an enormous increase in gas prices arising from a shortage of supply. In response to the sanctions, Russian gas companies have been supplying much less gas, or no gas at all in some cases, than agreed in the originally negotiated contracts. This furore quickly turned into an energy crisis that has gripped the EU, and thus also Germany, ever since.

The considerable cuts to the import of formerly cheap Russian gas represent a massive problem for domestic gas importers. To fulfil their obligations to customers, short-term purchases have to be made from non-Russian exporters at now exorbitantly high prices to meet the demands for gas from industry and end users. These additional costs cannot be passed on to customers due to contractual restrictions or only passed on after a considerable delay. The procurement of gas will remain a cost-intensive endeavour for the time being. In addition to the severely depleted supplies, contracts with favourable pricing terms, like those before the sanctions against Russia, are simply no longer available. Germany is, therefore, now reliant on importing expensive gas, such as LNG, to guarantee a sufficient supply for the domestic market. The resulting energy crisis is impacting society as a whole, and both businesses and end users continue to feel the squeeze amid rising costs. Furthermore, it has led to a rethinking of the energy policy in the economic sector. The need for efficient energy management is now becoming a top priority like never before. The rising energy costs (gas prices, fuel prices, etc.) are helping to push up inflation. This development is making the energy crisis ever more intense and acute. A situation that can and will cause severe economic damage. It is impossible to say whether energy prices will fall any time soon. This makes it all the more important to focus on energy-efficient strategies. When asked about this issue, German Economy Minister Robert Habeck Press conference on 4 October 2022 said: “It is time to do everything we responsibly can to overcome this crisis. But we must do so without losing sight of the future. Showing that you can act wisely and prudently in the present while still setting the course for the future.”

The ongoing energy crisis prompted the German government to step in at the end of September 2022 with a €200 billion rescue package that will see gas prices capped for companies and households alike. But will this really deliver relief to businesses and end users? Or is this artificial intervention in the market not constructive since the market actually regulates itself? Companies, in particular, should look to the future before the bailout funds dry up. At this point, it definitely pays to invest in your own energy efficiency in the long term. The best possible time to do this is right now, as there is no end in sight to rising inflation and energy prices. In this case, delaying your decision means taking a big risk, as an investment later on will be much more expensive. A company’s energy consumption represents an increasingly large cost factor. This applies, in particular, to data centres. They usually consume a lot of energy. And as there appears to be no end to soaring energy costs, it is imperative to permanently reduce consumption. Many data centres are outdated and no longer economically viable, since they simply consume too much energy. Due to the current market price hikes, the break-even point in favour of new investments in data centres has fallen significantly. It obviously makes sense to invest in state-of-the-art data centres from Cadolto Datacenter that are designed for maximum energy efficiency. They help to save energy from the first day of operation, offering the fastest possible availability as either rental or purchase options. Further, Cadolto data centres can, if required, be expanded without interfering with ongoing operations and grow with the requirements placed on them.

This results in two elementary advantages:

1. Thanks to the best possible energy efficiency of the Cadolto data centre and the resulting energy savings, pay-back on the investment is faster than ever before.
2. Data centres from Cadolto Datacenter grow with the requirements placed on them, as they can be expanded flexibly as and when required. This enables companies to plan for the long term despite all the current market uncertainties and to even expand their data centre during ongoing operations, if necessary. Another, essential obstacle to investment is eliminated.

In the current situation, it is therefore worth focussing on sustainable strategies to achieve greater energy efficiency. The importance of energy as a real cost factor is increasing all the time. It is therefore vital to move beyond the energy crisis and to invest in your own future. In fact, it is precisely the rapid provision of IT-ready Cadolto data centres that enables companies to act quickly and turn the aforesaid cost factor into a real opportunity for the future. Seen from the standpoint of society as a whole, the current energy crisis clearly shows that we need to make more efficient use of our resources and ultimately of energy. We should, therefore, make the relevant tweaks and changes necessary to move closer towards this goal. Especially in terms of data centres. This applies to businesses in particular. They can now invest specifically in the future by optimising their energy efficiency levels through clever investments. In this respect, it is worthwhile for companies to tweak and change things with very high energy consumption, such as data centres. Because making a bet on energy prices returning to their pre-crisis level looks set to fail at the moment. [ The fictitious example below further illustrates the significant advantages of a Cadolto data centre compared to alternative products currently available on the market. The operating costs at a price per kWh are significantly below those of our competitors. You can demonstrably save substantial costs. The energy efficiency of CDC Microprime is the measure of all things in this comparison. ]