AVK
“ What drives me personally in the data centre market – and in turn , AVK – is that this infrastructure is so meaningful ”
BEN PRITCHARD CEO , AVK
Ben breaks it down , explaining : “ It ’ s very hard to build a 100MW grid connection and make sure that the national grid isn ’ t just serving the data centres but serving the general population as well . If we can start to talk to local government and local councils , there ’ s power , heat and carbon that could be utilised – and we ’ ve seen it quite successfully , like the Paris Olympic swimming pool heated by a data centre .
By leveraging existing standby power infrastructure to support the grid and renewable energy sources , there is potential for large-scale microgrids and standby generation systems to play a crucial role in giving back to the grid and supporting renewable energy integration , Ben believes .
But solving this challenge requires collaboration across multiple stakeholders , including developers , hyperscalers , original equipment manufacturers and local planning authorities .
Ben adds : “ The technology and the brains in the industry is out there . It ’ s just a case of giving it a platform and getting the right heads in the room to put together all the different pieces . We are comfortable that it will get there – it ’ s just a case of when people will start to want to take on that piece .”
Nurturing the skilled workforce of the future Although AVK alone cannot solve the challenges facing power generation and data centre circles , one issue it is tackling head-on is the talent gap and growing a skilled , future-proof workforce .
Recognising the industry-wide problem , AVK has taken steps to nurture the next generation of engineers and technicians by establishing the AVK Academy .
The academy plays a crucial role in the company ’ s long-term vision of fostering an innovative engineering workforce that can address future industry demands and energy crises . “ It ’ s frustrating going to events , hearing about the skills gap and there being a little done about it ,” Ben says , sharing his motivation for establishing the academy .
Motivated and committed to growing its own talent , Ben drew on his own journey and industry experience to curate a successful programme of
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