Schneider Electric targets AI heat crisis with largest coolant system

Schneider Electric SE expanded its liquid cooling infrastructure with a 2.5-megawatt coolant distribution unit, positioning the French electrical equipment maker to capture demand from artificial intelligence data centres grappling with extreme heat loads.

The MCDU-70, announced by Schneider’s Motivair subsidiary, represents the company’s largest cooling capacity to date and targets facilities deploying next-generation AI processors that generate up to 50 times more heat than traditional server chips. The unit can scale to support 10 megawatts and beyond when deployed in centralised systems, according to Rich Whitmore, chief executive officer of Motivair by Schneider Electric.

“AI isn’t slowing down,” Whitmore said in a statement. “Data center success now hinges on delivering scalable, reliable, efficient infrastructure solutions that match the next generation of AI Factory deployments.”

The expanded portfolio addresses a critical infrastructure challenge as hyperscalers and cloud providers race to build computing capacity to train large language models and run AI workloads. Rack power densities are projected to reach 1 megawatt as organisations deploy increasingly powerful graphics processing units from Nvidia Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc.

Schneider’s coolant distribution units now range from 105 kilowatts to 2.5 megawatts, offering data centre operators flexibility to match cooling capacity to specific deployment requirements. The MCDU-70 provides redundancy configurations for large-scale facilities, with six units delivering 4+2 redundancy for 10-megawatt designs aligned with Nvidia’s Omniverse DSX Blueprint architecture.

The unit features dual heat exchangers engineered to maintain industry-standard flow rates of 1.5 litres per minute per kilowatt while minimising pressure drops across the system. Each model undergoes testing that simulates real-world conditions, including full-load pump operations at the end of production lines, according to the company.

Liquid cooling has emerged as an essential technology for AI-era data centres, where air cooling proves inadequate for managing thermal loads from dense GPU clusters. The technology circulates coolant directly to heat-generating components, enabling higher rack densities and improved energy efficiency compared with traditional cooling methods.

Schneider manufactures the MCDU-70 at advanced production facilities in North America, Europe and Asia, supporting global availability for hyperscale deployments. The units integrate with Schneider’s EcoStruxure software platform, enabling centralised monitoring and control across distributed cooling infrastructure.

The company’s global service network provides design consultation and maintenance support, critical for operators managing complex thermal management systems at a gigawatt scale. Motivair’s CDU lineup supports advanced strategies including precise flow control, real-time monitoring and adaptive load balancing to optimise performance and reduce energy consumption.

The MCDU-70 is available for order globally, with Schneider positioning the expanded portfolio to serve current GPU generations and future chip roadmaps as silicon vendors continue pushing performance boundaries for AI workloads.