- Schneider Electric has urged Nigerian data centre operators to adopt liquid cooling as AI workloads drive unprecedented power and heat demands.
- The company says liquid systems can cut energy use by up to 60% while enabling higher rack densities and improved sustainability.
Schneider Electric has urged Nigerian data centre operators to adopt liquid cooling technologies as artificial intelligence workloads drive surging energy demand. The company warned that traditional air-cooling systems can no longer handle the thermal intensity of next-generation computing infrastructure.
Industry estimates show that AI workloads consume roughly ten times the electricity of standard internet searches. At the same time, the International Energy Agency projects that data centres could account for about three per cent of global electricity consumption by 2030. That figure would nearly double their current share. In Nigeria, high ambient temperatures compound cooling pressures.
Ajibola Akindele, Country President of Schneider Electric Anglophone Africa, stated that AI expansion demands a redesign of data centre infrastructure. He explained that operators must move beyond conventional cooling to sustain digital growth while meeting sustainability targets.
According to Akindele, fully populated GPU-based racks now draw about 132 kilowatts each. Next-generation systems could reach 240 kilowatts per rack. Some forecasts even suggest densities approaching one megawatt per rack. Therefore, air-cooling systems are reaching operational limits.
Liquid cooling offers a direct solution by removing heat at the chip level. The method is up to 3,000 times more effective than air cooling. It can also cut energy consumption by 30 to 60 per cent. Moreover, its closed-loop design avoids direct water use, an important advantage in water-stressed regions.
Beyond efficiency gains, Schneider Electric highlighted sustainability benefits. Operators can capture expelled heat and reuse it for industrial processes or district heating. In addition, optimising fluid temperatures and system components reduces greenhouse gas emissions and improves performance.
Experts advise operators to plan early when transitioning to liquid cooling. They recommend aligning IT hardware with facility design and ensuring flexibility across hardware generations. Close collaboration with vendors and integrators is also critical. Schneider Electric cited its work with NVIDIA on reference designs as part of a broader ecosystem strategy.
Akindele emphasised that cooling now shapes digital competitiveness. He concluded that liquid cooling enables scalable growth, lowers energy and water use and supports Nigeria’s shift toward a sustainable digital economy.