Joint venture builds sustainable data centers in Germany
The construction group Hochtief and the Bavarian server manufacturer Thomas-Krenn establish a joint venture for data centers with efficient water cooling.
Rendering of the Yexio data center in Heiligenhaus.
(Image: Yorizon)
The first cloud data center of the Yorizon joint venture is currently being built in Heiligenhaus in the Niederbergisches Land region. The PPP Solutions division of the Hochtief construction group is cooperating with the southern German server company Thomas-Krenn.AG. The "Yexio" data center is initially designed for 2 megawatts (MW) of capacity and primarily provides cloud servers.
Thanks to its modular design, the data center's capacity can be quickly doubled if required. Up to 85% of the converted energy can be reused thanks to high-temperature water cooling; however, Yorizon has not yet named a specific customer in Heiligenhaus. The energy concept in the Heiligenhaus Innovation Park provides for a local heating network.
Videos by heise
Water cooling instead of air cooling
Thomas-Krenn developed the hot water cooling system for the servers, which is designed to be particularly efficient. The company has not yet provided any further details on its in-house technology.
In principle, direct water cooling of the individual servers has the advantage over conventional air cooling that the waste heat can be utilized more easily. The higher the temperature in the water circuit, the easier this is.
However, the selection of servers that are suitable for direct connection to a water cooling system is still small.
Yexio's data center buildings are also designed to have a lower impact on the environment than those with conventional construction methods. Yexio also wants to use renewable electricity and, depending on the location, source it locally wherever possible.
(ciw)
