Air2O proposes new stackable data center rack design

Cooling technology vendor Air2O has come up with a modular, stackable design for data center racks, which it says can improve cooling efficiency.

Dubbed the High Thermal Density Air-Cooled Rack Assembly, the company says it can accommodate power density of up to 320kW when using air cooling, and up to 600kW for direct-to-chip liquid cooled systems. The design would feature 42U racks laid horizontally and stacked.

For air cooling, the rack’s cooling system takes in air at temperatures of up to 80°F (26°C) and chills it to a temperature of 65°F (18°C) so that it can be used to cool the servers. A second chilling unit takes the waste heat, which comes out at a temperature of approximately 105°F (40°C), and chills it back down to 75°F (23°C) so it can be recirculated in the room.

In the liquid cooled version, a fluid distribution manifold is installed in place of the first cooling unit, according to a presentation posted online by Iggy Kogan, the company’s lead R&D engineer.

The racks can apparently be stacked on top of one another, and Air2o says that because of this it is possible to accommodate 120 modules in a 16m x 25m x 20m room, which would provide the equivalent of 400 sqm (4,305 sq ft) of floor space. This would be enough racks to cater for 40MW of IT capacity. The Air2o presentation says the 40MW Prime data center in Madrid takes up 26,000 sqm (280,000 sq ft) of space.

The 19-inch rack format that is standard within most data centers today was established by AT&T around 1922 in order to reduce the space required for repeater and termination equipment in its central offices/telephone exchanges.

Vertiv launches 5-50MW pre-fabricated data center solution 'OneCore'

Vertiv has launched a prefabricated data center solution supporting capacities of five to 50MW.

The OneCore data center build brings together a bunch of Vertiv gear into one design, handled via a single point of contact.

It includes Vertiv's SmartRun overhead IT infrastructure system and a Vertiv steel shell, and is managed by Vertiv's integrated platform software Unify.

OneCore is configurable for 96 to 944 racks, and supports liquid cooling. It is compatible with 11–35 kV medium voltage and 400V–480V three-phase AC power input.

The solution is available globally, but is best suited for temperatures from -20°C to 55°C (-4°F to 131°F).

Fuchs Lubricants Co. launches RENOLIN FECC 10 SYN

Fuchs Lubricants Co., the world’s largest independent lubricant supplier, has announced the release of RENOLIN FECC 10 SYN, a premium, single-phase immersion cooling fluid engineered to meet the rapidly evolving demands of today’s high-performance digital infrastructure.

This new product sets a benchmark for safety and performance, becoming the first immersion coolant in the market to obtain UL 2417 certification, affirming its compliance with the most stringent standards for electrical safety and performance.

RENOLIN FECC 10 SYN delivers exceptional chip cooling performance, low flammability risk, and superior dielectric properties, allowing it to operate in close contact with sensitive electrical components such as servers, switchgear, capacitors, and high-speed data connections with total reliability.

Its advanced synthetic formulation, compounded with synergistic oxidation and corrosion inhibitors, ensures longevity and consistent cooling even under demanding thermal loads and high voltage operations. The fluid features remarkable low-temperature pumpability and a low pour point, supporting deployments in extreme climates while maintaining easy circulation.

The RENOLIN FECC 10 SYN contains virtually negligible sulfur, nitrogen, or aromatics, is non-corrosive, boasts minimal volatility, and poses a low fire hazard. The fluid also aligns with Open Compute Project (OCP) requirements for single-phase immersion coolant, supporting sustainability and operational efficiency for hyperscale data centers, crypto-mining facilities, and other advanced computing environments.

Vesper Infrastructure acquires Norwegian data center firm Terakraft

Investment firm Vesper Infrastructure has acquired a Norwegian data center company. Vesper Next Generation Infrastructure Fund I SCSp announced this week it had invested in Terakraft, becoming the majority shareholder.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Established in 2021 and based in Sauda, Terakraft operates a data center that will offer 10MW of capacity following a “comprehensive refurbishment” and upgrade program. The facility will utilize liquid cooling (rear door and direct-to-chip) and offer densities up to 140kW.

Vesper said the company has expansion potential up to an additional 60MW to be installed near the existing data center.

Terakraft operates a data center at a former hydropower plant from 1919, located outside Hellandsbygd. The site was decommissioned in 2008, with Terakraft acquiring the site in 2021.

Giorgio Sbriglia, CEO of Terakraft, added: “With Vesper’s backing, we will transform our data center into Europe’s flagship Green AI Factory — a campus purpose-built for AI computing, where kilowatt-hours are converted into compute tokens. Terakraft stands ready to help clients harness the power of water to generate intelligence, advancing the European Union’s dual ambitions of digital sovereignty and climate leadership.”

Edged tops out data center in Des Moines, Iowa

Data center firm Edged has topped out its data center in Des Moines, Iowa. The company this week said it had topped out its facility in Ankeny, just north of Des Moines, marking the completion of the building’s structural frame.

The facility will offer 13MW of capacity across 105,000 sq ft (9,755 sqm) and utilize a waterless cooling system from sister company ThermalWorks. The facility will support densities of up to 70kW per rack with air cooling and 200kW per rack.

Reports that Edged was looking to develop a campus on 17.5 acres in the area surfaced last year, with plans for a two-building campus.

Edged (formerly Edged Energy) is part of Endeavour, which was set up by Aligned founder Jakob Carnemark. The company has data centers either operating or in development in Bilbao, Madrid, and Barcelona in Spain; Lisbon, Portugal; and across the US, including Missouri, Arizona, Texas, Georgia, Iowa, Ohio, and Illinois.

Brookfield Asset Management to launch dedicated strategy for AI data centers

Investment giant Brookfield Asset Management is to launch a dedicated strategy to develop AI infrastructure. As reported by Bloomberg, the strategy was announced in its Q2 2025 letter from CEO Bruce Flatt and president Connor Teskey to investors.

Noting Brookfield's previously announced investment programs in France with $23bn to be dedicated to the buildout of AI infrastructure, and Sweden with a $10bn investment program for AI and cloud computing infrastructure, Flatt and Teskey wrote that the new strategy will build on this "momentum.“Among those, the asset manager notes its pre-existing "leading position in foundational AI infrastructure" with more than 2GW of data center capacity already developed under Brookfield.

The two wrote that they see an opportunity to provide "GPU infrastructure as a service under long-term contracts, easing the burden on corporate balance sheets" and also see "major opportunities" in adjacencies, including liquid cooling systems, fiber networks, robotics manufacturing, and recycling infrastructure.

The quarter has also seen Brookfield leading equity financing for Canadian data center group 5C, providing Crusoe with a $750 million credit facility to develop its planned data centers and AI cloud platform, and the sale of a portfolio of Data4 assets for $3.6bn.

Millard County Commission in Utah approves data center land rezoning request

The Millard County Commission in Utah has approved a data center land rezoning request. The request concerns an approximately 4,000 acre land parcel currently belonging to Triple C Farms. Located at 11000 N McCornick Road, the August 5 commission meeting ended with the land being rezoned from agricultural use to heavy industrial use.

But a conditional use permit will also be required in order for operator Joule Capital Partners to commence construction.

Mid-Utah Radio has reported previously on Joule Capital Partners, mentioning an existing data center, but information about this facility is sparse. The company’s website says that it “will soon be unveiling the High Performance Compute Data Center Campus of the future in Utah,” but it is unclear which facility this refers to.

The website also says that it “is laying the foundation to bring multiple gigawatts of capacity to Utah, with critical elements” like access to six major long-haul fiber routes and water cooling capabilities.

Utah is expected to see massive growth within its data center sector over the rest of the decade due to favorable tax incentives and affordable real estate. Much of this growth will be in Salt Lake City, where capacity is expected to grow 699 percent by 2030, expected to reach 1,271MW, according to Upwind.

Daikin acquires rack maker DDC Solutions

HVAC company Dakin has acquired a maker of combined air and liquid-cooled racks. Daikin Applied announced this week that it entered into a definitive agreement to acquire DDC Solutions, a San Diego-based developer of high-density cooling cabinets and management software for data centers.

This deal is expected to close by the end of the month. Terms were not shared.

Launched in 2011, California-based DDC Solutions offers a patented, self-contained hybrid cooling system that integrates air and liquid cooling directly within the data center racks. Daikin said the deal will add in-room, rack-level solutions for white space cooling to its data center portfolio.

DDC's S-Series v4 cabinet technology reportedly supports up to 100kW air cooling and is liquid-to-chip ready, reportedly able to offer up to 600kW of cooling capacity per rack.

Investment firms Cequel III and Thompson Street Capital Partners took a controlling interest in DDC last year from co-founders Chris Orlando and Mark Ortenzi. After the closing of this deal, DDC Solutions will operate as a subsidiary of Daikin Applied, with the company's leadership team remaining in their current roles.

Daikin Applied, part of Daikin Industries, designs and manufactures advanced commercial and industrial HVAC systems. It offers air-cooled, water-cooled, or hybrid systems for data center customers.

TRG Datacenters acquired by Tallvine Partners

Texas colocation firm TRG has been acquired. Investment firm Tallvine Partners this week announced the acquisition of Houston-based TRG Datacenters. Terms of the deal were not shared.

TRG's first and to-date only data center launched in 2018. The site totals 150,000 sq ft (13,935 sqm).

TRG is set to soon break ground on a 24MW expansion at its Houston campus, adding both air and liquid-cooled data center capacity.

On its website, TRG also lists a 150,000 sq ft facility in Atlanta, Georgia.

The company lists plans for facilities in Dallas (4.5MW, scalable to 12MW and coming in 2025) and Austin (4.5MW, scalable to 12MW, coming in 2026). The sites will reportedly be able to offer densities up to 50kW per rack.

Meta taps Pimco and Blue Owl for $29bn data center financing

Social media giant Meta is close to securing nearly $30 billion for a gigawatt-scale data center project in the US. Citing people with knowledge of the matter, Bloomberg reports Meta has selected Pacific Investment Management Co. (Pimco) and Blue Owl Capital Inc. to lead a $29 billion financing for its data center expansion in rural Louisiana.

Pimco is expected to lead a $26 billion debt portion of the financing, while Blue Owl is reportedly providing $3 billion of equity.

In its most recent earnings call, the company's CFO Susan Li said Meta expects to finance a large share of its build-out itself, but is also "exploring ways to work with financial partners to co-develop data centers."

Meta has around 30 data center campuses in operation or development globally. News on the 2GW Louisiana development – now known as Hyperion - first broke back in November.

In December, the firm announced its intention to construct the mega campus on 2,250 acres between the municipalities of Rayville and Delhi, about 30 miles east of Monroe.

Bridge DC to use wastewater for data center cooling in Johor, Malaysia

APAC data center firm Bridge is to use treated wastewater (aka sewage) for its cooling. Bridge said it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Johor Special Water (JSW) and is collaborating with Indah Water Konsortium (IWK), JSW, and Permodalan Darul Ta’zim (PDT) on the project.

Though data centers typically reuse water by recirculating the same water through their cooling systems multiple times, it is often drawn from potable (drinkable) sources. As the water can collect bacteria and limescale, it is treated with chemicals, leaving it unsuitable for people to drink once it leaves the facility. Exactly how much drinkable water the data center industry uses is unclear, but estimated to be in the billions of gallons annually.

However, the likes of Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and Apple are using wastewater at a number of their facilities - taking non-drinkable recycled water from treatment facilities and often returning it back to be re-treated again afterwards.

The company operates two facilities in Cyberjaya with a third in development, and launched a data center outside Johor in 2022. It announced plans for the first 16MW building at its MY03 site in Kuala Lumpur’s Mranti Park in 2021 and announced an expansion last year.

OpenAI says its compute increased 15x since 2024, company used 200k GPUs for GPT-5

OpenAI has shared some details about its growing compute infrastructure alongside the launch of its latest model, GPT-5. Compute and infrastructure staffer Anuj Saharan said that the company has increased its compute 15-fold since 2024.

On LinkedIn, he added: "[In the] last 60 days: built out 60+ clusters, a backbone moving more traffic than entire continents, and 200k+ GPUs to launch GPT-5 to 700m people - all while designing the next 4.5GW toward superintelligence."

Saharan then pointed to open roles at OpenAI's Stargate data center venture: "We're a small team building planetary scale AI infrastructure at unprecedented pace; hiring across data, energy, data centers, capacity planning, biz dev, finance, and more. Join us for the next 100x scale-up."

Last month, the two companies confirmed a 4.5GW deal for Stargate data center capacity in the US, expected to cost some $30 billion a year.