A novel two-stage energy sharing method for data center cluster considering ‘Carbon-Green Certificate’ coupling mechanism

The energy consumption of data centers is on a sharp upward trend, and how to achieve joint optimal scheduling and energy management of multiple data centers is the key to the economic and low-carbon operation of data center prosumers (DCPs). This study introduces shared electric-hydrogen energy storage (SEHES) for DCPs, constructs a data center cluster (DCC) framework, and proposes a two-stage energy sharing model for DCC considering the ‘Carbon-Green Certificate’ coupling mechanism (C-GCCM). First, the DCC framework containing DCC operator (DCCO) and DCPs is established, and the C-GCCM based on conversion coefficients is designed to improve the energy saving and emission reduction level of DCC. In the day-ahead optimization stage, a stochastic multi-objective scheduling model for SEHES considering economy and environmental protection is developed. In the real-time optimization stage, considering the C-GCCM and the difference in on-grid prices, the Stackelberg game model of DCC is constructed according to the internal energy price set by DCCO and the trading strategies of DCPs. Finally, the proposed model is solved using the normal boundary intersection algorithm, the particle swarm algorithm and CPLEX. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed DCC framework can reduce the daily operating cost of DCPs by 67.05 %. The introduction of C-GCCM has resulted in a shift from negative to positive benefits on carbon emission trading for DCC and a 42.33 % increase in benefits on green certificate trading. • Shared electric hydrogen energy storage is introduced in the data center cluster. • A novel two-stage energy sharing method for the data center cluster is presented. • A novel ‘Carbon-Green Certificate’ coupled trading mechanism is designed. • The demand response mechanism of data load is constructed. • A pricing mechanism considering the difference of on-grid prices is designed.