Cegeka's vision for a carbon-neutral future: the zero-emissions virtual server

The entire world is digitizing. And digitalization needs enormous amounts of compute power and datacenter capacity. We know that the latter ones have vast negative impacts on our environment. This also applies to our own datacenters and compute power delivered by Cegeka Cloud.

Cegeka made the commitment to achieve CO2-neutrality by 2030 and this will not be realized without some audacious initiatives. Therefore, we are thrilled to unveil the "Zero-emissions Virtual Server" project that will help us to reach this ambitious goal. 

Cegeka’s zero-emissions Virtual Server project explained by Luc Greefs, our Director for Global Operations Infrastructure and CTO Infrastructure 

Today, we're joined by Luc Greefs, the Director for Global Operations Infrastructure and CTO Infrastructure, to discuss this groundbreaking project. 

In Luc’s bold vision, this project is set to deliver eco-friendly computing power to help Cegeka’s customers meet their climate objectives. To achieve this, we will focus on three aspects. The first one is Energy. Cegeka will strategically invest in the production of sustainable electrical energy through a combination of wind energy, solar energy, and battery technology. Luc explains: "The planned initiatives include the production of wind turbine energy with battery storage, the expansion of Cegeka’s on-site solar panel park at Hasselt Universiteitslaan, and collaborative ventures for the establishment of solar energy plants in Limburg, Flanders. To bolster Cegeka’s commitment further, an on-site battery park will be set up at Hasselt Universiteitslaan, serving as the primary energy source during public grid failures.” Choosing to supply energy near Cegeka’s data centers reduces strain on the distribution and transmission network, optimizing the efficiency of our sustainable energy solutions. 

And what is the ultimate target, we ask “Our goal is to be 100% self-sufficient in electrical energy with renewable sources by the end of 2026”, states Luc. 

The second one is the datacenters themselves and all the systems that we acquire to be able to deliver our Cegeka Cloud services. They have large CO2 footprints as well when they enter our datacenters. We will work very closely with our vendors to lower these footprints and focus on circular economy principles. And as we have always done for years, we will use our systems as efficiently as possible: sharing hardware between customers and virtualization are key here. 

And lastly, when we have accomplished all of this, we will have done everything what is in our means to limit the emissions per virtual server. What remains on emissions will be compensated by investing in meaningful projects that neutralize emissions and at the same time have a positive social impact on communities, on biodiversity and the world. 

With this ambitious project in place, despite the strong demand for electrical energy in the coming years, Cegeka can offer green computing power and remain relevant in the market. This will also give the company a stronger market position by exceeding customer expectations. By contributing to the collective effort for sustainable computing solutions and striving for energy independence, Cegeka aims to set the stage for a greener future for all.