• • • DATA CENTRES • • •
FUTURE-PROOFING DATACENTRE COOLING FOR THE AI ERA
not simply the speed of adoption. It is the change AI makes to the thermal profile of the facility. The next stage of AI adoption will not be focused
BY ALEX SCHAFER, SALES DIRECTOR,
GÜNTNER DATA CENTRE SOLUTIONS T
he data centre market has grown exponentially over the past decade, and the pace shows no signs of slowing.
Estimates suggest that the global data centre
industry could be worth between $600 billion and $700 billion by 2030, nearly doubling in size from its current position. Given the speed of this growth, decisions
around capacity, infrastructure, technology, sustainability, maintenance and more, must be future-proofed and consider a range of different, sometimes competing factors. One of the most important decisions for data
centre operators is the choice of cooling solution. The choice between the available solutions will undoubtedly influence capital cost, energy and water consumption, maintenance requirements, available space, operational resilience and the ability to accommodate future workloads. Workloads that are only going to increase.
AI – driving demand A major driver of this expansion is artificial intelligence (AI). The theme of AI is already dominating the business, and news agenda. In a matter of a few short years, AI has moved from a novelty to a mainstream business, and personal, tool. Crucially, AI is a major driver of data centre expansion, but the important issue for engineers is
on awareness, but will largely depend on efficient and well-managed applications, which requires access to scalable, reliable data-centre capacity. That growth of AI use and adoption also has direct consequences for cooling. AI workloads are typically more compute-
intensive and concentrated than many conventional business operations and applications. That means higher-power servers, greater rack densities and more heat generated in a smaller footprint. As facilities move towards high-performance
computing, direct-to-chip liquid cooling, immersion cooling and hybrid architectures are becoming part of the design conversation alongside established air-based systems. It is vital that, as AI increases the amount of computing power in each rack, that the cooling systems in the data centres are able to remove and reject this extra heat efficiently, even as conditions change.
Data centre demands AI is increasing demand for data-centre capacity and electricity across the globe, while also accelerating innovation in power management, thermal design and cooling efficiency. It is not simply a case of building data centres to meet the needs of the market, but doing so within the constraints of resource availability, regulatory requirements and climate targets that can differ greatly around the world. This growth is not only increasing the number of
data centres being built; it is also changing the thermal profile of the facilities themselves. The IEA
28 ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING • SEPTEMBER 2026
estimates that global data-centre electricity consumption was around 415 TWh in 2024 and could reach approximately 945 TWh by 2030. Electricity consumption from accelerated servers, driven mainly by AI adoption, is projected to grow by around 30 per cent annually.
No one size fits all Put simply, as AI increases computing power, heat generation may rise faster than the physical size of the data centre, making higher-capacity cooling essential. The heat density associated with higher-density
computing can exceed the capabilities of traditional air cooled solutions. Direct liquid cooling and immersions systems introduce a new set of engineering problems around fluid distribution, liquid to liquid heat exchange and system controls. With so many variables, particularly around
the infrastructure, cooling systems cannot be a one-size-fits-all solution. Güntner and JAEGGI technologies are already deployed in data centres across Europe, North America, South America and Asia, with each project requiring a solution tailored to its specific conditions. For example dry cooling solutions can eliminate
on site water usage and simplify operations, but with the trade-off of increased energy demand. Adiabatic and hybrid systems can be used to balance on site resource usage and increase heat rejection density, but require strategies for water usage and control as well as water treatment. Direct liquid cooling and immersion cooling
solutions support high rack densities and allow for increased operating temperatures, optimal for dry and hybrid heat rejections solutions.
electricalengineeringmagazine.co.uk
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