28 www. refrigerationandaircon. co. za RACA Journal I January 2026
DATA CENTRE FEATURE SERIES
Data centres
LIQUID COOLING FOR THE AI ERA
By Eamonn Ryan
• Liquid cooling is non-negotiable: it’ s the only way to manage rising heat and power density
• Partnerships are crucial: successful deployments require collaboration across chipmakers, integrators, and service providers
Schneider Electric, through its recent integration with Motivaire, has emerged as a leading provider of liquid cooling solutions designed to meet the unprecedented demands of AI-driven workloads.
At its recent Global Virtual Press Broadcast on Accelerated
Innovation – Liquid Cooling Solutions, executives and industry experts emphasised that cooling technology has become the decisive factor in enabling AI at scale. It is presented by Vladimir Galabov, senior research director, enterprise infrastructure, Omdia, and Schneider Electric colleagues.
Artificial intelligence( AI) is transforming data centre design at an unprecedented pace. High-density AI servers, often equipped with up to 16 GPUs, draw more than 20 times the power of traditional cloud servers and generate an equivalent heat load. With cooling now consuming as much as 40 % of a facility’ s power budget, air cooling has reached its limits.
Schneider Electric, strengthened by its recent acquisition of Motivaire, has positioned itself in end-to-end liquid cooling solutions for AI data centres. AI rack densities have surged past 100kW and are projected to hit 240kW within a year. Air cooling can no longer keep up, while liquid cooling is up to 3 000 times more effective at heat removal by targeting thermal loads directly at the chip. Currently, single-phase direct-to-chip systems dominate deployments, while two-phase and immersion cooling are emerging as alternatives for hotter, denser GPUs.
Three messages stood out:
• AI demand is only beginning: operators must prepare infrastructure now
Motivaire brings 15 years’ experience in advanced cooling and supports six of the world’ s ten fastest supercomputers. Together, Schneider Electric and Motivaire now offer the most comprehensive liquid cooling portfolio on the market, including:
• Cooling Distribution Units( CDUs): scalable up to 2.5MW for future AI demands
• Heat Dissipation Units( HDUs): compact 100 – 132kW systems for sites without chilled water
• Rear door heat exchangers and chillers: hybrid solutions that optimise water, energy and sustainability
• Prefabricated modular pods: rapid-to-deploy, liquid cooling – ready data centre modules
Hardware is only part of the solution. Schneider Electric integrates cooling with its EcoStruxure management platform, delivering real-time monitoring, leak detection and optimisation. With over 600 trained technicians worldwide and rigorous endof-line testing, the company ensures reliable operation from deployment through long-term maintenance.
Collaboration underpins Schneider Electric’ s strategy. Codeveloped reference designs with Nvidia provide the first public blueprints for AI factories, covering both cooling and power integration. Partnerships with Dell, HPE, Supermicro, Microsoft, Google, Equinix and Digital Realty further extend its ecosystem leadership.
AI represents not just a computing revolution but an infrastructure reckoning. Cooling is now a decisive factor in enabling performance and scale. RACA
Image by Freepik. com
Liquid cooling is non-negotiable.
28 www. refrigerationandaircon. co. za RACA Journal I January 2026