Data Centres

Datacloud Global Congress to mark its 20th anniversary

techoraco, a provider of global digital infrastructure events, has once again partnered with Spa Communications, an award-winning PR, social media and content marketing agency for B2B technology, sustainability, and Fortune 500 digital infrastructure businesses, to support its media relations strategy for Datacloud Global Congress, the industry event for data centre, cloud, edge, and AI infrastructure professionals worldwide. As part of its work, Spa has been tasked with building brand awareness, establishing new media partnerships and securing journalists from a host of national and business titles to join the event. “We’re excited to partner with Spa Communications to mark our 20th anniversary for Datacloud Global Congress 2025,” says Annabel Helm, Managing Director, Datacloud, techoraco. “This year’s Congress is set to be the best yet and will provide delegates with the opportunity to share insights with leading decision-makers and industry experts from across the world. Having Spa on board to handle our media and PR relationships will enable us to reach the widest audience, enabling speakers, sponsors, and exhibitors to make long-lasting connections on a global scale for future success”. Datacloud Global Congress will this year celebrate 20 years of bringing together the world’s leading names in data centre, AI, energy, sustainability and investment leaders to explore the industry's most pressing trends, from AI disruption and sustainability to talent challenges and growth in emerging markets - while offering a unique platform for strategic networking and deal-making. Opening the event will be Susanna Kass, Senior Advisor to Sidewalk Infrastructure Partners (SIP) – Operating Partner at Digital Gravity Infrastructure Partners, alongside Val Walsh, VP at Microsoft, and Otto Kreiter, Director Global Infrastructure, at Google. In this keynote session, the panel will discuss global scaling, and the power of future data centres in the AI era, deep diving into hyperscale build outlook and colocation leasing trade-offs. Across the two days, other speakers include Dame Dawn Childs, CEO at Pure Data Centre, Doug Loewe, CEO at Kao Data, Thierry Chamayou, Vice-President of Cloud and Service Providers in EMEA at Schneider Electric, and Richard Bienfait, Chief Financial Officer at STACK Infrastructure. Charlotte Wood, Account Director, Spa Communications, adds, “This year’s Datacloud Global Congress marks an important milestone that needs to be celebrated. The event has always held an outstanding reputation as a global cornerstone event for the industry, and we’re proud to partner with techoraco on such a pivotal edition of Datacloud to help engage more influencers across the trade media. “The breadth of its new partners and press relations will add a new level to the conference, and we can build the platform into delivering significant value to its leading speakers and attendees today and for tomorrow.” As part of its work, Spa Communications has successfully established new media partnerships with a host of key industry publications - including DCNN - ensuring that all participants, including sponsors, speakers and exhibitors, can share their news directly from the event and increase opportunities for press coverage. Datacloud takes places in Cannes, Frances, on 3-5 June 2025. To ensure you don’t miss out on its conference line-up, register for your ticket today by visiting the event's website by clicking here. For more from Datacloud, click here.

atNorth to host 6G AI Sweden’s National AI Cloud

atNorth, the Nordic colocation, high-performance computing, and artificial intelligence service provider, has announced its hosting of infrastructure that will support the development of a National AI Cloud in partnership with 6G AI Sweden. 6G AI Sweden has an agreement to acquire Nvidia's latest AI-powered chips, the H200 and Blackwell GB200, which will support the development of a state-of-the-art National AI Cloud. This strategic move will also further the business’s mission to deliver cutting-edge AI innovation across various industries. Located at atNorth’s SWE01 data centre in Stockholm, the National AI Cloud will ensure data sovereignty under Swedish jurisdiction and will be fully compliant with GDPR. Moreover, atNorth’s SWE01 site leverages renewable energy sources and heat reuse technology to minimise environmental impact, reflecting 6G AI Sweden’s commitment to sustainability. "This agreement is an important milestone for establishing 6G AI Sweden as a leading provider of sovereign AI infrastructure in Sweden”, says M. A. Zaman, Founder & Chairman of 6G AI Sweden AB. “By incorporating Nvidia's powerful AI technologies and hosting our infrastructure at atNorth’s SWE01 data centre, we are deploying a cutting-edge AI Cloud in Sweden and empowering businesses to embrace the future of AI in a responsible way”. Anders Fryxell, Chief Sales Officer at atNorth, adds, “We look forward to hosting Sweden's leading National AI Cloud at our SWE01 data centre. This partnership reflects a shared ethos of driving innovation while minimising environmental impact. Together, we are committed to supporting AI development in a sustainable and responsible way." This news follows the announcement of atNorth’s latest heat reuse partnership with Finnish retails giant, Kesko Corporation and the launch of its 2024 Sustainability Report. The business has also recently announced the securing of land in the Municipality of Sollefteå in Långsele, Sweden, for a potential new mega site to complement its existing metro sites in the country, and to contribute to its land bank. For more from atNorth, click here.

Supermicro introduces new direct liquid-cooling innovation

Supermicro has announced several improvements to its Direct Liquid Cooling (DLC) solution that incorporate new technologies for cooling various server components, accommodate warmer liquid inflow temperatures, and introduce innovative mechanical designs that enhance AI per watt. The Supermicro DLC-2 solution reduces data centre power consumption by up to 40% compared to air-cooled installations. These advanced technologies enable faster deployment and reduced time-to-online for cutting-edge liquid-cooled AI infrastructure. Additionally, the total cost of ownership decreases by up to 20%. The comprehensive cold plate coverage of components allows for lower fan speeds and fewer required fans, significantly reducing data centre noise levels to approximately 50dB. "With the expected demand for liquid-cooled data centres rising to 30% of all installations, we realised that current technologies were insufficient to cool these new AI-optimised systems," says Charles Liang, President and CEO of Supermicro. "Supermicro continues to remain committed to innovation, green computing, and improving the future of AI, by significantly reducing data centre power and water consumption, noise, and space. Our latest liquid-cooling innovation, DLC-2, saves data centre electricity costs by up to 40%." Supermicro aims to save 20% of data centre costs and apply DLC-2 innovations as part of data centre building block solutions to make liquid-cooling more broadly available and accessible. A significant component of the new liquid-cooling architecture is a GPU-optimised Supermicro server, which includes eight NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs and two Intel Xeon 6 CPUs, all in just 4U of rack height. This system is designed to support increased supply coolant temperatures. This unique and optimised design incorporates cold plates for CPUs, GPUs, memory, PCIe switches, and voltage regulators. This design reduces the need for high-speed fans and rear-door heat exchangers, thereby lowering cooling costs for the data centre. The new Supermicro DLC-2 stack supports the new 4U front I/O NVIDIA HGX B200 8-GPU system, and the in-rack Coolant Distribution Unit (CDU) has an increased capacity of removing 250kW of heat generated per rack. The Supermicro DLC-2 solution also utilises vertical coolant distribution manifolds (CDMs) to remove hot liquid and return cooler liquid to the servers for the entire rack. The reduced rack space requirements enables more servers to be installed, increasing computing density per unit of floor space. The vertical CDM is available in various sizes, precisely matching the number of servers installed in the rack. The entire DLC-2 stack is fully integrated with Supermicro SuperCloud Composer software for data centre-level management and infrastructure orchestration. The efficient liquid circulation and nearly full liquid-cooling heat capture coverage, at up to 98% per server rack, allow for an increase in the inlet liquid temperature at up to 45°C. The higher inlet temperature eliminates the need for chilled water, chiller compressor equipment cost, and additional power usage, saving up to 40% of data centre water consumption. Combined with liquid-cooled server racks and clusters, DLC-2 also offers hybrid cooling towers as well as water towers as part of data centre building blocks. The hybrid cooling towers combine the features of standard dry and water towers into a single design. This is especially beneficial in data centre locations with strong seasonal temperature variation to reduce usage of resources and costs further. Supermicro serves as a comprehensive one-stop solution provider with global manufacturing scale, delivering data centre-level solution design, liquid-cooling technologies, networking, cabling, a full data centre management software suite, L11 and L12 solution validation, onsite deployment, and professional service and support. With production facilities across San Jose, Europe, and Asia, Supermicro offers unmatched manufacturing capacity for liquid-cooled rack systems. This ensures timely delivery, reduced total cost of ownership (TCO), and consistent quality. For more from Supermicro, click here.

Delta to showcase next-gen data centre innovations

The future of digital infrastructure demands heightened efficiency, resilience, and scalability. Delta, a provider of power and thermal management products, is ready to meet this challenge and will showcase its latest innovations at Datacloud Global Congress 2025, 3-5 June, at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès in Cannes. As demands from AI, edge computing, and sustainability intensify, Delta provides the critical infrastructure backbone. Visitors can join the company to engage with industry leaders and discover how its 'grid-to-chip' portfolio empowers the next generation of data centres. Delta's products on show at the event, which are designed to unlock peak performance and efficiency, include: Uninterruptible power and reliability: Visitors can explore Delta's UPS systems, space-saving Li-ion battery solutions, and high-density, OCP-compliant power shelves – engineered for maximum uptime and efficiency. Rapid, scalable deployment: Discover Delta's modular data centre solutions, including Xubus Edgeand Xubus Node. These pre-engineered, factory-tested systems enable faster deployment and flexiblegrowth for any scale. Intelligent infrastructure control: See how Delta's integrated DCIM platforms provide unifiedmonitoring and management of all critical facility and IT assets, optimising performance and simplifyingoperations. Connect directly with Delta's experts at Booth 20, where they will be on hand to discuss specific challenges and explore how the company's integrated solutions can drive your data centre towards greater efficiency, sustainability, and future-readiness. For more from Delta, click here.

Shell cooling fluids certified for use in data centres

Shell Lubricants’ immersion cooling fluids have become the first to receive official certification from a major chip manufacturer, allowing its innovative products to be used with confidence in data centres worldwide. Jason Wong, Global Executive Vice President, Shell Lubricants, says, “Upgrading existing air-cooling methods with immersion fluids can reduce data centre energy use by up to 48%, as well as help reduce capital and operating expenditure by up to 33%. “We have been working with Intel for the last two years to certify our immersion cooling fluids, which have the potential to transform the way that data centres are cooled and how much energy they use.” Extensive testing by Intel showed that Intel Xeon processors remain as reliable with Shell’s immersion cooling fluids as with traditional air-cooled systems. Immersion cooling involves servers and networking equipment being placed in electrically non-conductive fluid. The specialised liquid absorbs and dissipates heat from IT equipment more than 1,000 times more efficiently than air cooling. With no need for coolers, chillers, fans or evaporative cooling systems, immersion cooling fluids can cut the floor space needed for a data centre by up to 80%. “We’re pleased to be partnering with Shell in accelerating the adoption of more sustainable and energy-efficient solutions for data centres,” says Karin Eibschitz Segal, Corporate Vice President and Interim General Manager of the Data Centre Group at Intel. “Through these advancements we’re paving the way for the next generation of high-performance, environmentally conscious computing.” According to the International Energy Agency, energy consumption from data centres currently accounts for 1.5% of global electricity demand and is expected to double from 415 terawatt hours (TWh) in 2024 to around 945 TWh by 2030. This is mainly driven by the growth in AI. Conventional cooling systems typically account for around 30-40% of a data centre’s energy demand. Shell’s immersion cooling fluids can be retrofitted to existing data centres, as well as allowing new data centres to use space more efficiently. As a renowned lubricants supplier, Shell is investing in new products such as fluids for electric cars, battery storage systems and data centres. This focus is aligned with Shell’s strategy to grow sales of premium, high value products, while helping its customers meet their own emission reduction goals. For more from Shell, click here.

DOLD's energy monitoring keeps colocation costs in-check

DOLD Industries UK, a trusted provider of network monitoring and functional safety solutions across industrial and infrastructure sectors, has launched the RL9405 Smart Energy Meter – enabling colocation customers to gain accurate control over rack-level energy use, meaning they only pay for what you use. The ultra-compact RL9405 (just 35mm wide) fits easily into dense server racks, offering precise, real-time energy monitoring – without complex wiring or infrastructure upgrades. Fast to deploy, it enables fair, usage-based billing, pinpoints system inefficiencies, optimises workloads, and helps avoid costly overuse. Track live and historical energy data, detect anomalies, and flag potential issues early – enabling smarter preventive maintenance and reduced downtime. Even during power outages, the RL9405 securely stores energy data, ensuring critical insights are never lost. With Modbus TCP/RTU connectivity, remote monitoring is simple and seamless, integrating with existing systems to optimise operational efficiency. For more information, click here. For more from DOLD Industries, click here.

Colt DCS breaks ground on new Paris data centre

Colt Data Centre Services (Colt DCS), a global provider of hyperscale and large enterprise data centre solutions, has broken ground on its second data centre in France with Colt Paris 2. This facility is the first of three planned data centres (Colt Paris 2, 3 and 4) to be built on a new 12.5-acre site in Villebon-sur-Yvette, located to the southwest of Paris. Two additional data centres (Colt Paris 5 and 6) are also scheduled for construction on a second new site in Les Ulis, which spans 5.3 acres and is situated in proximity to Colt DCS’ existing operational facility in the French commune. This marks the beginning of a €2.3 billion investment in the country’s digital economy, with five data centres planned to be completed by 2031. Combined, this will bring Colt DCS’ total capacity to 170MW in France by the end of that year. Each new facility has been designed following Colt DCS’ Global Reference Design (GRD) and will use several low embodied carbon principles in the construction process to showcase the operator’s commitment to sustainability. The five data centres will meet the performance requirements of large enterprise, traditional cloud, and AI platforms. With power contracts confirmed at both sites, these facilities will be purpose-built to support the rapid growth of digital services across France and Europe. Colt Paris 2 has been designed to meet the cooling demands of high-density AI workloads through a hybrid approach that combines traditional air cooling with liquid-to-chip technology. During the cooling process, there is zero water waste. The facility has also been designed to recover waste heat for use by the local community. Having secured 100% renewable power, once fully operational, this AI-ready data centre will deliver 40MW with the ability to accommodate over 100kW of IT power per single cabinet. Niclas Sanfridsson, CEO of Colt DCS, says, “Breaking ground at Colt Paris 2 is the exciting next step in our long-term commitment to France and its thriving digital economy. This project not only implements our innovative new design, but it also demonstrates our dedication to sustainable growth and innovation. By investing in renewable energy contracts and supporting the local community through waste heat reuse, we are helping to fulfil the growing demand for cloud and AI services while setting new standards for environmental responsibility.” Furthermore, Colt Paris 2 will be constructed by sourcing building equipment and materials from within Europe, with the development estimated to employ 300 people during construction and create over 100 new jobs within the local economy once operational. The project underscores Colt DCS’ role as a trusted data centre partner, enabling its customers to efficiently deliver AI solutions in a secure and sustainable environment. For more from Colt DCS, click here.

Flex doubles EU footprint to power AI data centres

Anord Mardix, the Critical Power Business of Flex, has announced a significant expansion of its European operations to enhance its power offerings for data centres. The company recently acquired a new manufacturing site in Bielsko-Biała, Poland, doubling Flex's power product capacity in Europe from 616,000 to 1,200,000ft2 to meet rising customer demand for AI-driven power solutions. Flex has strategically established over 11 million square feet of regionalised manufacturing capacity in Europe, to better serve local demand.   Flex is expanding in Poland as part of its global growth strategy to invest in essential power and data centre technologies and sites to meet the growing customer demand. The new Polish site comes after opening a second facility in Dundalk, adding 120,000ft2, doubling Anord Mardix's capacity in Ireland. The Dundalk facility, named D2, assembles switchgear products to efficiently meet the rising global demand for reliable data centre power, fuelled by AI growth.   Additionally, the company recently opened a new US critical power product manufacturing and assembly facility in Dallas, Texas, and made two important acquisitions: Crown Technical Systems, which specialises in power distribution solutions, and JetCool Technologies, which added liquid cooling products to the Flex data centre portfolio.  Employing 700+ skilled workers, Flex’s new Bielsko-Biała site is fully operational. The teams will produce an extensive portfolio of grid-to-chip products, including Low Voltage/Medium Voltage (LV/MV) Switchgear, Power Pods and Busway systems. Flex’s focus is a direct response to its customers’ increasing requirements for next-generation power infrastructure that enables faster data centre deployment at scale.   Flex is planning to expand the site to support PowerPods production, meeting the changing needs of its customers.  The establishment of this new Polish site is a prime opportunity for the workforce to be a part of Flex’s global growth plan, ensuring the company’s ability to deliver innovative power solutions from the grid to the chip. The dedication to expanding Flex’s manufacturing footprint of more than 30 sites in EMEA reaffirms the company’s commitment to providing exceptional service and support in an era of accelerated technological advancement. 

Vertiv to deliver AI infrastructure for Polar's Norway data centre

Vertiv has announced that it has been chosen by Polar as the primary supplier for its first modular AI-ready data centre in Norway. Powered entirely by hydroelectric energy, the Polar facility minimises its carbon footprint whilst accommodating high-density, liquid-cooled environments of up to 120kW per rack. The Vertiv solution is designed with N+1 redundancy across electrical and thermal systems, delivering the resilience and reliability to support AI and accelerated computing operations. Polar’s mission is to create an industry-leading, environmentally responsible infrastructure platform for its customers to develop the future of AI. As AI applications become increasingly resource-intensive, the demand for scalable and energy-efficient infrastructure is greater than ever. With Vertiv’s preconfigured power and cooling infrastructure, Polar’s new facility is set to meet these challenges, supporting a high-performance computing environment with operational agility that supports its sustainability business goals. Viktor Petik, Senior Vice President, Infrastructure Solutions at Vertiv, comments, “This collaboration showcases the strength of Vertiv’s modular approach, providing Polar with a high-density, AI-ready infrastructure that combines rapid deployment with outstanding energy efficiency. By leveraging factory-assembled infrastructure, we overcome traditional on-site challenges and deliver a solution tailored to Polar’s evolving requirements.” Andy Hayes, CEO at Polar, says, “We are excited to partner with Vertiv on this innovative project, which allows us to scale quickly and efficiently while maintaining a strong commitment to sustainability. The flexibility of Vertiv's solution enables us to easily expand to meet market demand, and helps us to support our clients with cutting-edge AI and HPC capabilities.” As part of this collaboration, Vertiv is designing, manufacturing, delivering, installing, and commissioning a fully equipped, scalable, AI-ready prefabricated modular (PFM) solution capable of supporting a 12MW IT load, with the option to expand up to 50MW. The solution includes Vertiv EXL S1, an efficient and grid-interactive uninterruptible power supply (UPS) able to support the variable power loads of AI and other HPC applications. It also features the compact Vertiv Liebert AFC chiller with very low-GWP (global warming potential) refrigerant, designed to significantly reduce carbon emissions, and allowing up to 20% lower annual energy consumption compared to fixed screw systems.  The first deployment phase of the project is set to go live in the second half of 2025, with further expansion already planned. For more from Vertiv, click here.

Colovore secures $925m from Blackstone for AI data centres

Colovore has announced the closing of a $925 million debt facility provided by Blackstone funds. This milestone marks a successful year for Colovore since affiliates of King Street Capital Management acquired the company to accelerate its development of new AI data centres across metro edge markets. “This Blackstone financing, along with the continued support of King Street, positions us well to continue scaling our footprint through the development of new liquid-cooled data centres, starting in Reno, Chicago and Austin,” says Sean Holzknecht, President and Co-Founder of Colovore. “As AI infrastructure shifts rapidly toward highly distributed, inference-driven workloads, we remain focused on building the national backbone for this next phase- scalable, liquid-cooled data centre platforms purpose-built for edge and core inference.” Brian Higgins, Founder and Managing Partner of King Street, adds, “With more than a decade of experience in liquid cooling, Colovore is uniquely positioned to provide infrastructure to meet the soaring demand for high-density, AI-optimised data centres. We look forward to further leveraging King Street’s real estate and credit capabilities to support their rapid expansion.” Unlike legacy data centre architectures, Colovore's liquid-cooled facilities are designed from the ground up to support the intense demands of modern AI chips, offering market leading per cabinet cooling densities, smaller footprints, and improved efficiency. With flexible power and cooling configurations, Colovore supports everything from traditional enterprise hardware to the most advanced liquid-cooled AI accelerators. Colovore earned the distinction of being the world’s first NVIDIA DGX-certified data centre and supports a diverse range of customers from large enterprises to leading GenAI companies.