Greensparc, a San Francisco-based provider of local data center services, has partnered with Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) to open an environmental, social and governance (ESG)-optimized data center in Alaska to disrupt legacy data center and make equitable computing power at scale a reality.

In partnership with Cordova Electric Cooperative, Greensparc’s new HPE Greenlake-based data center will lower the energy costs, latency and environmental impact of cloud computing while addressing the digital divide in Alaska.

By delivering this edge infrastructure to remote communities, communication and cloud service providers have an easier path to move into edge markets and previously unserved areas.

The data center site in Cordova, Alaska will provide access to cloud computing resources that are typically costly, limited in choices and inconsistent in quality. The geography of harsh, rural communities like Cordova contributes to the digital divide between people with and without access to connectivity, which propagates inequitable economic and educational opportunities.

“Greensparc brings best practices and technologies to promote better performance and affordability to the most difficult to reach communities in Alaska – and rural USA, and eventually the world,” Greensparc CEO and Founder Sam Enoka told SDxCentral.

“Greensparc has elevated Cordova, Alaska from a remote community at risk of being left behind by next-generation technologies to one that is leading at the intersection of sustainable energy, high-speed communications and transformative cloud computing,” Cordova Electric Cooperative CEO Clay Koplin added.

In less than a month, Greensparc was able to begin and finish the installation of its latest edge data center at a hydroelectric power plant in Cordova.

Greensparc’s edge-optimized infrastructure, powered by 100% renewable hydroelectric power, reduces energy costs by up to 80% and improves performance on sustainability metrics like greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, energy consumption and losses from transmission, according to the vendor.

“Wherever possible, we partner with local utilities and power producers to collocate our infrastructure at the source of power,” Enoka said.

In addition, Greensparc anticipates this facility will operate at a power use effectiveness (PUE) of 1.05-1.10 – two-thirds more efficient than legacy data center and comparable to existing cloud service providers in non-rural areas.

While Alaska presents its share of challenges for data center operations, the area has one main advantage – its cold climate.

Cordova Electric Cooperative provides cold water that stays at freezing temperatures all year from the local hydroelectric operation. “That improves the cooling efficiency of the operation, however, the Humpback Creek Hydro Facility where we are deployed is harvesting any waste heat from the heat exchanger we’ve installed,” Enoka said.