eWeek Europe UK: Environmentalists Dispute VMWare's "Green" Hydroelectric Claims

[Andrew Donoghue]

The virtualisation specialist claims its latest data centre is "the gold standard" for green design powered as it is solely by hydroelectric energy but environmental groups claim electricity generated from damming rivers is not sustainable or particularly green

Virtualisation software maker VMWare has said it will save $5m a year with its new data centre in Washington State which will take advantage of local hydroelectric power but some environmental groups claim dams used to create the energy are not sustainable and can negatively impact the local environment and wildlife.

The data centre is located in East Wenatchee, Washington State. The virtualisation software maker claims that by making use of hydroelectric power generated from dams in the area it will save around $4m a year on energy costs and a further $1m a year on "local consolidation costs".

"Hydroelectric power, which is green and more sustainable than other energy resources, is the sole source of power for VMware’s datacenter, which is expected to save the company approximately 50 percent in power rates alone," the company said in a statement.

However, according to reports in the Chicago Tribune in July, one dam in the area, the Rocky Reach dam on the Columbia River, has been criticised for affecting stocks of local fish and has been forced to alter its operation to allow water and fish through its systems. "...the dam in recent years hasn't produced as much power as it might: Its massive turbines act as deadly blender blades to young salmon, and engineers often have had to let the river flow over the spillway to halt the slaughter, wasting the water's energy potential," the article states.

VMWare was contacted to clarfiy whether it was using electricity generated from the Rocky Reach Dam but did not reply in time for this article.

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