Schneider Electric unveils advanced liquid cooling for NZ data centres
Schneider Electric has introduced its advanced liquid cooling portfolio into the New Zealand market, aiming to support the increasing data centre demands driven by AI and high-performance computing workloads. The move follows Schneider Electric's acquisition of a majority stake in Motivair, a specialist in data centre cooling technologies.
Portfolio expansion
The new suite offers a range of solutions designed for hyperscale, colocation, and high-density data centre environments. Products now available in New Zealand include Coolant Distribution Units (CDUs), ChilledDoor rear door heat exchangers, Heat Dissipation Units (HDUs), and Dynamic Cold Plates, all built to deliver precise thermal control and support for rack densities well above 100kW.
Motivair's CDUs, created in collaboration with leading silicon manufacturers, are built to integrate seamlessly with next-generation processors and AI accelerators. The family of CDUs ranges from 105 kilowatts up to 2.5 megawatts and is already in use with six of the world's ten largest supercomputers. The solutions are certified for use with NVIDIA's latest hardware and are designed to meet future increases in data centre power density.
AI-driven requirements
The introduction of AI-ready data centre workloads in New Zealand has seen requirements for cooling solutions intensify. Schneider Electric notes that as AI chips become smaller and hotter, traditional air-based cooling methods are challenged by thermal demands. Direct liquid cooling is seen as a critical technology, claiming up to 3,000 times better heat absorption than air cooling by removing heat at the chip level.
Other products introduced include the ChilledDoor rear door heat exchanger, capable of cooling densities up to 75kW per rack, and a rack-agnostic design that makes it suitable across high-performance computing setups. The Heat Dissipation Unit (HDU) is positioned for environments where water is not available, offering up to 100 kilowatts of heat rejection capacity in a compact footprint, with the ability to cool systems in a 1:1 ratio with NVIDIA's NVL144 architecture.
Sustainability focus
Schneider Electric highlights the sustainability benefits of its new portfolio. Closed-loop air cooled chillers from Motivair and Schneider Electric are claimed to enable significant water savings, with the potential to save millions of gallons annually for every megawatt of cooling delivered. These chillers reportedly deliver up to 20% more performance than prior solutions while supporting targets for water conservation and energy efficiency.
EcoStruxure, Schneider Electric's software for data centre thermal management, is also part of the offering. The software platform provides analytics for air and liquid cooling, helping operators optimise performance and efficiency in mission-critical settings.
Local deployment
Schneider Electric's range is being deployed in several large-scale data centres around New Zealand, addressing the country's goal to align digital infrastructure growth with sustainability. With approximately 80-85% of New Zealand's electricity generated from renewables, the company positions its solutions as ideal for data centre operators seeking to minimise environmental impact. The closed-loop systems introduced do not require water sourcing from public networks, reducing strains on local resources.
Motivair's installation network spans globally and locally, with more than 600 trained cooling field technicians and EcoXpert cooling partners undergoing training worldwide. According to the company, ongoing services and deployment experience aim to ensure uptime and maintain operating performance for clients.
"The data centre industry is undergoing a once-in-a-generation transformation, and traditional cooling methods are no longer sufficient," said Farokh Ghadially, Vice President, Secure Power for Schneider Electric in the Pacific Zone. "As AI workloads intensify and rack densities soar, our solutions, co-developed with industry leaders like Motivair and NVIDIA, are engineered to deliver unmatched efficiency, resilience, and sustainability."
