Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and FNT Software, a German provider of software solutions for IT, data centre, and telecommunication infrastructures, have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the aim of constructing sustainable data centres to support decarbonisation efforts.
The growing digitisation has led to a significant increase in energy consumption by data centres, posing a major challenge for energy conservation in this sector. Through the collaborative MOU, MHI will combine its energy management technologies and analytical expertise in power generation and air conditioning systems with FNT’s infrastructure management technologies to develop innovative solutions.
MHI will contribute its experience and technologies in energy management, including analytical tools developed for power generation and air conditioning systems. These will be integrated with FNT’s “Data Centre Infrastructure Management Software” (DCIM) solution. The companies plan to conduct demonstration tests, incorporating MHI’s immersion cooling system currently in development for data centres.
FNT has already provided its DCIM solution to over 500 customers worldwide, offering integrated management, monitoring, and planning functions for data centre IT and infrastructure. This has contributed to the realisation of sustainable data centres through operational optimisation, earning FNT’s services and systems high praise in the IT industry.
As digital transformation continues to advance globally, the role and demand for data centres are expanding rapidly. Additionally, the rise of generative AI has increased the need for graphics processing units with high computational capabilities. Consequently, the power consumption of data centres is expected to further increase in the coming years, making the operation of energy-efficient data centres with effective waste heat discharge a pressing challenge.
MHI is actively working to decarbonise and reduce energy consumption in data centres by providing comprehensive solutions, including decarbonised power generation, integrated management systems, and high-efficiency cooling technologies.
As part of these efforts, the company is developing technologies for server chip cooling and immersion cooling. Immersion cooling units have been tested, whereby servers and components are cooled by immersing them in a non conductive liquid. This approach has demonstrated a significant reduction in power consumption compared to traditional data centres. By combining MHI’s products and technologies with FNT’s data centre software solutions, which focus on infrastructure efficiency, further progress can be made towards achieving energy-efficient and decarbonised data centres, as well as driving green transformation in the IT industry.
