Data centers in transition: What role does ENGIE Refrigeration’s cooling portfolio play?

Year after year, Data Center World in Frankfurt showcases the direction in which the international data center market is heading. ENGIE Refrigeration is on site at the joint booth with ENGIE Germany, and Jürgen Martin, Key Account Manager for Data Centers at ENGIE Refrigeration, explains which technological trends are currently shaping the market – and how ENGIE Refrigeration’s product portfolio fits in with this – and why it is, of course, well worth visiting ENGIE Refrigeration at stand H.102 in Frankfurt.

Jürgen, in your view, what key developments can we expect at Data Center World in Frankfurt?

Jürgen: We are certainly seeing an increasing concentration of technical solutions among individual suppliers. Many market players no longer present isolated components, but complete portfolios: cooling, air distribution, liquid cooling and control systems all from one single source. The market is increasingly demanding integrated solutions that are easy to plan, operate and scale.
For specialists such as ENGIE Refrigeration, this does not mean that traditional cooling technology is losing its importance – on the contrary. It remains a central backbone of modern data centers, but must increasingly be embedded within overarching concepts.

Another major issue is the scalability of data centers. How should this trend be interpreted?

Jürgen: Scalability is currently one of the dominant topics. Many data centers today are no longer built in their entirety at once, but are expanded modularly, often based on container solutions. Colocation providers, for example, start with a ten-megawatt data center and expand it step by step – depending on customer requirements – quite simply by adding further modules.
This is a highly relevant field for ENGIE Refrigeration. With our GENIUM cooling containers, we can support precisely these expansion models. Our containers can be designed to ‘grow’ alongside the data center without the need for significant oversizing from the beginning.

What role does our existing product portfolio play here?

Jürgen: Our portfolio is very well suited to these requirements. Chillers remain state-of-the-art, both for traditional air cooled data centers and to support hybrid concepts. Our compact and modular container solutions are particularly attractive to the data center market because they can be integrated in flexibly.
A good example is our QUANTUM Air chiller, developed specifically for data centers, in which many components – such as free cooling and pump modules, soundproofing packages, hydraulic system separation and harmonic filters – are already integrated. This significantly reduces planning and installation effort and is therefore even better meeting the requirements of modern data center projects.

How do you assess the current state of liquid cooling?

Jürgen: Liquid cooling will certainly be a key topic at this year’s Data Center World, but it is not yet a widespread standard. In reality, many data centers continue to operate using traditional air cooling. Liquid cooling is primarily used where very high power densities are required, such as in specialised high-performance applications or AI clusters.
It is important to note that even in these scenarios, the chiller does not disappear. It remains necessary to reliably maintain temperature levels. Our existing chillers can already cover temperature ranges that are also relevant for certain liquid cooling applications.

Can you give us a specific example of an application that illustrates the importance of natural refrigerants in the data center environment?

Jürgen: A prime example is a high-performance data center near Stuttgart. At the heart of this project is a holistic energy concept in which the waste heat from the supercomputers is systematically utilised and integrated into the existing district heating network.
ENGIE Refrigeration is supplying a total of eight thermeco2 high-temperature heat pumps for this purpose. A key technical factor here is the use of CO₂ as a natural refrigerant, which is classified as safety class A1 in accordance with DIN EN 378 and is therefore non-flammable.
This is a significant advantage, particularly in a safety-critical environment such as a high-performance data center. At the same time, CO₂ enables very high efficiency levels when raising waste heat to a usable temperature. This means that a considerable proportion of the campus’s heating requirements can be met using the waste heat generated in the data center.
The project serves as a prime example of how ENGIE Refrigeration’s portfolio can combine cooling, heat recovery and sustainability in a technically sound manner – an approach that is becoming increasingly important for modern and energy-efficient data centers.

You also mentioned the market for existing data centers. Why is this market so relevant?

Jürgen: The market for refurbishment and modernisation is set to grow significantly. Many existing data centers will need to be upgraded in terms of energy efficiency and technology in the coming years. However, not every data center will be completely converted to new cooling concepts.
This is precisely where one of ENGIE Refrigeration’s great strengths lies: our chiller ranges are ideally suited for the refurbishment of existing systems because they integrate well into existing infrastructure whilst delivering efficiency gains.

Your conclusion today is……

Jürgen: The market around data center equipment is evolving rapidly – but cooling technology will remain an indispensable component of modern data centers. With its product portfolio, ENGIE Refrigeration is very well positioned, both for new buildings and for modernisation projects.
The key task for the future will be to embed our technical strengths even more firmly within holistic solutions. Technologically, we are ideally equipped for this.

Thank you very much for the fascinating insights, Jürgen Martin!