Embracing the brave new world of AI data centres

Author: Simon Rowley

By Louis McGarry, Sales and Marketing Director, Centiel

AI is creating a huge demand for power within data centres. At Centiel, we are increasingly seeing ‘normal’ enquires for sites for 20,40, 50 MW systems. But are we ready to embrace the brave new world that AI offers? Essentially, it comes down to how well a UPS is built, and how quickly and how scalable it can become.

For Centiel, quality components which are more reliable and last longer are a given. The true modular nature of Centiel’s systems offers the highest levels of efficiency, but they are also flexible. Like Lego blocks, adding modules means we are not limited by size and can build a system that suits today’s load and is ready for increased demands.

And AI is creating massive demand and fast. The challenge is around speed of deployment and how to continue to maintain and deliver the highest levels of quality. This is second nature to Centiel. The company’s Swiss factory is renowned for quality and ships around 100,000 UPS modules per month, so Centiel has already adapted its manufacturing process to deliver. If a data centre needs a super-sized UPS system in three to four months, Centiel has the ability to meet that demand. However, Centiel takes this to the next level by also working with its data centre customers to help them integrate and manage energy better.

StratusPower, Centiel’s fourth generation multi-award winning true modular UPS, is key. It provides market-leading (99.99999999%) availability equating to milliseconds of downtime per year and yet it is also highly efficient and sustainable. Its modules are 95% recyclable based on mass, and Centiel sources components responsibly, yet it has the ability to scale to any size. This means data centres can have a UPS which is entirely decentralised/distributed up to 1.8MW yet with a layer of sustainability and it is also built flexibly for the increased and dynamically changing loads of AI.

Crucially, in the face of power-hungry AI, StratusPower offers the potential to integrate with renewable energy sources. Energy can be taken from the mains at the same time as renewables to reduce cost. It offers the potential to discharge batteries throughout the day and recharge with renewables.

A 30-year design life where capacitors only need to be replaced every 15 years instead of four to five years improves sustainability further and lowers total cost of ownership.

However, it’s not just Centiel’s advanced, quality UPS technology that will help data centres face the AI future. The company’s experts pride themselves in working together with customers to plan the best way forwards. Centiel provides information and calculations so they can make informed decisions on equipment selection and how best to live with the system for the next 30 years in a more efficient and sustainable way. This may be through education about how to utilise different modes to maximise efficiency, or through hibernating modules to reduce energy use, or, how to introduce peak shaving to use energy storage better.

Data centres are evolving, and the AI revolution is happening now. Be brave and understand it: find out how Centiel’s UPS systems are tailored to create a solution that is not only fit for today but fit for the AI future.

To read more about Centiel’s StratusPower UPS, click here.