AQ Compute, a provider of colocation data centers and built-to-suit solutions with a strong focus on sustainability, announced the launch of its AI-ready data center in Norway and a partnership with NexGen Cloud, a sustainable GPU Cloud and Infrastructure-as-a-Service provider, to drive decarbonization in the IT sector and facilitate AI computing in Europe.
AQ Compute's inaugural facility, AQ-OSL1 in Hønefoss near Oslo, is designed to accommodate AI workloads and provide colocation services, serving as the backbone for NexGen Cloud's operations. This collaboration underscores a commitment to sustainability and innovation in the data center industry.
Data centers are consuming increasing amounts of electricity worldwide, and the rapid growth of AI is expected to exacerbate the problem. The International Energy Agency (IEA) reports that data centers consume more than 1% of the world's electricity, approximately 48.6 TWh, and emit as much CO2 as the commercial airline industry. The industry's energy consumption could increase further from 85.4TWh to 134.0 TWh by 2027, driven by the high power requirements of AI applications. Some estimates suggest that the information and communications technology industry's annual electricity demand could grow to 8,000 TWh by 2030, representing 20.9% of the projected total electricity demand.
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A net zero AI supercloud
AQ Compute can support NexGen Cloud's AI workloads. To become AI-ready, AQ Compute incorporates ultra-high-density cooling coupled with heat capture through RDHX and direct liquid cooling, increasing the temperature the data center can run at and reducing cooling costs and water consumption. As a result, AQ Compute is able to run its ultra-high-density data centers more efficiently, minimizing the clients' PUE and supporting their sustainability goals, enabling the deployment and growth of AI applications. Using water to remove the server's heat, NexGen Cloud can improve its energy efficiency while wasting almost no water. The collaboration helps to achieve that NexGen Cloud's $1 billion European AI supercloud will be net zero, planned with more than 20,000 NVIDIA H100 Tensor Core GPUs and providing enterprises with access to one of the world's most powerful GPU-accelerated platforms.
"AQ Compute has set out to deliver sustainable and efficient solutions for the data center and colocation industry. Considering the growing importance of AI technology, we are excited to cooperate with NexGen Cloud to create a sustainable path for implementing this new technological advancement. We are proud to set an industry standard for AI-ready data centers by providing a modular and low-carbon design powered by clean energy. We will continue to lead the way to a highly efficient and environmentally sustainable data center industry and enable our clients to reduce their carbon footprint and implement the technologies of the future,” said Henry Daunert, CEO of AQ Compute.
Moving towards the center of European data traffic
Located in Hønefoss, near Oslo, AQ-OSL1 offers accessibility and high-power availability. Despite its geographical location at the edge of Europe, Norway is increasingly moving to the center of European data traffic by expanding network connections. Access to power from renewable sources and a cool climate make Norway an ideal location for data centers. Due to the availability of clean energy, low electricity prices and cold cooling water, Norway is an attractive location for building large data centers, where 98% of the electricity is generated from renewable sources. As a result, Norway's existing energy sector expertise can help it achieve a successful energy and climate transition.
AI-ready
NexGen Cloud will start with 6MW IT capacity, which can be extended to 14MW IT. The excess heat will be reused for the facility, equipment and neighboring plot. The data center is designed as an AI-ready and colocation data center with open space, flexible partitions, compartments, cabinets and private halls with an available IT area of approximately 1,700 m2. High power density blocks to liquid-cooling computing capacity are available. Its large plot size offers space for further data center buildings.
“The AI market is expected to grow expeditiously over the next 12 to 24 months and as such it is imperative to decarbonize as much of the data generated as possible,” said Chris Starkey, CEO of NexGen Cloud. “By partnering with AQ Compute and housing the data created within our AI Supercloud in their data center in Norway, which is powered by renewable energy and cooled with water, we are not just innovating technologically, we are pioneering a sustainable shift in the way AI data is stored. We are not only the first to be doing this in Europe but hope to jointly set the industry standard at the same time.”
