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Global data centre power demands would expand from 286 TWh in 2016 to around 321 TWh in 2030. The cooling system represents electricity consumption of approximately 40–50% of the total energy used. The global LNG trade has reached 356.1 MTPA. Cold energy equal to 89025 GW is released into the ocean. Therefore, this study focused on the technical and economic feasibility of an LNG receiving terminal combined with a data centre using a direct expansion cycle (DEC), a Rankine cycle (RC) and a combination of Rankine cycle and direct expansion cycle (RC + DEC) under different natural gas distribution pressures to produce a supply of cooling water and electricity to reduce electricity consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. According to the study, the RC + DEC produces the maximum cold water at 7 °C, with the total cold energy of 44.23 MW which is sufficient for cooling a data centre with a capacity of 5345 racks, to reduce the electricity for conventional cooling system is 13521 kWh and generated electricity form turbine is 9968 kWh. This research has the potential to reduce the operating costs of data centres by more than USD 23.87 million per annum as well as CO 2 emissions by 83859 t per annum with exergy efficiency of 78.94%. In an economic study, indicated a payback period of 1.60 years with an IRR of 62%. • Thermodynamic analysis of cold energy recovery for LNG terminals has been performed. • A combination of Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) and Direct Expansion Cycle (DEC) was used. • Around 44.23 MW can be recovered from LNG regasification as electricity and cooling water. • The synergy of data centre and LNG receiving terminal improved exergy efficiency by 78.94%. • Improve the cost effectiveness and competitive advantage of data centres and LNG receiving terminals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Office of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission has reported that, from 2014 to 2018, Thailand's internet usage has grown six-fold to 3.3 million terabytes per annum. This market trend highlights one of the policies of Thailand 4.0, with the aim of making Thailand a hub for information transfer in ASEAN. As a result, there will be a massive demand growth for data storage facilities in the near future. Data centres are regarded as the brain and heart of the digital industry and are essential for facilitating businesses in organising, processing, storing and disseminating large amounts of data. As the energy demand for equipment cooling contributes to over 37% of the total energy consumption, the data centres of the world's leading companies, such as Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Facebook, are generally located in cold climate zones, such as Iceland, in order to reduce operating costs for cooling. Due to this reason, the possibility of data centres in Thailand is limited. Beneficially, PTTLNG, as the first liquified natural gas (LNG) terminal in Thailand, has processed the import, receiving, storage and regasification of LNG. The high abundance of cold energy inherently presented in LNG is normally lost to the surroundings during regasification. Presently, PTTLNG's LNG receiving terminal utilises a heat exchanger with propane as an intermediate fluid to transfer cold energy from LNG to water. This cold energy, in the form of cold water, is then used in several projects within the LNG receiving terminal: (1) production of electricity via an organic Rankine cycle capacity of 5 MWh; (2) cooling the air inlet of gas turbine generators to increase the generator efficiency; (3) replacing refrigerant heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems within buildings; (4) development of winter plantations with precision agriculture to replace imported products. Therefore, this study focuses on the potential and future use for LNG cold energy by performing a thermodynamic and economic analysis of the use of LNG cold energy as a source to produce cold water at 7 °C, with the total cold energy of 27.77 to 34.15 MW or 7934 t to 9757 t of refrigeration depending on the target pressure of the natural gas to replace the conventional cooling system of data centres. This research has the potential to reduce the cooling operation costs of data centres by more than USD 9.87 million per annum as well as CO2 emissions by 34,772 t per annum. In an economic study, this research could lead to a payback period of 7 years with IRR 13% for the LNG receiving terminal and a payback period of 2.21 years with IRR 45% for digital companies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]