What you need to know about the nLighten Integrated CFE Score

Developed in cooperation with the Eni Enrico Mattei Foundation, the Integrated CFE Score allows nLighten to measure and report the total carbon-free energy use of its edge data centers. Explanations.

• Who are we talking about ? nLighten is a digital infrastructure platform active in the European data center market.

This week the company presented an improvement to the already existing Carbon Free Energy (CFE) measurement, called the “Integrated CFE Score”. This new indicator measures the percentage of carbon-free energy supplied and consumed on an hourly basisto facilitate the integration of heat recovery into energy reporting. The company intends to promote new standards for sustainability reporting in the data center industry.

The tool was developed for this study in collaboration with the Eni Enrico Mattei Foundation (FEEM), an international research center on the study of energy and environmental issues.

24/7 carbon-free energy means that every kilowatt-hour of electricity consumed comes from carbon-free electricity everywhere and at all times. This goal is recommended to achieve zero emissions.

Unlike conventional CFE indicators (which focus only on electricity consumption), the approach taken here extends the analysis by including both carbon-free electricity and heat produced by nLighten data centers. It then integrates waste heat recovery into sustainability measures, which extend beyond the data center perimeter to buildings or coupled systems.

« The Integrated CFE Score » is, in a way, the centerpiece of the study that you can consult (in English) on this page. The main metrics are:

• The integrated low-carbon energy score (ICFEn), which combines carbon-free electricity and heat scores, to give an overall percentage of carbon-free energy.
• Integrated measurement of avoided emissions to quantify the emissions reductions achieved through data center sector integration. This includes heat reuse, renewable energy production and contributing to the stabilization of the electricity grid.