The University of Southern Denmark (SDU) establishes a new supercomputer in Sønderborg that combines more sustainable energy management and advanced AI capabilities. The data center, to be developed with Danfoss and HPE, will serve as the framework for a joint research and development project that demonstrates the potential of energy-efficient data centers internationally.
The new data center builds on the SDU eScience Center’s experience in developing innovative cloud technologies and providing national high-performance computing (HPC) services, including DeiC Interactive HPC based on UCloud, which since 2019 has delivered supercomputing resources to Danish universities. The data center will give researchers from SDU and other Danish universities access to the latest accelerators needed for AI research and handling large datasets – including sensitive personal data – in a secure, open-source and sovereign environment.
The collaboration with Danfoss and HPE makes it possible to combine HPC with energy-efficient and innovative cooling and heat recovery. Danfoss has expertise in heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) solutions as well as cooling technology for data centers. The operational data from the new data center will enable Danfoss to optimize its cooling and heat recovery systems, while SDU optimizes the UCloud platform to handle energy-saving workloads. In cooperation with Danfoss, SDU researchers will have a unique opportunity to explore more sustainable technologies for data centers.
“We are proud that with the new data center we can combine research, sustainability, and technological innovation in one unified project. It is not only an investment in the future of research but also a concrete example of how SDU creates value for society by supporting the green and digital transition in Denmark,” says Thomas Buchvald Vind, University Director at SDU.
Digital sovereignty and sustainability
The data center is being built on Danish soil and will use Danish-developed open-source cloud technology, UCloud, which strengthens Denmark’s digital sovereignty and enables researchers to efficiently utilize HPC resources without dependence on foreign technology providers . At the same time, Danfoss’ cooling and heat recovery systems enable surplus heat from the new data center to be reused. The initiative is also supported by ProjectZero, a public-private partnership in Sønderborg with the goal of making its energy system carbon-neutral by 2029.
“At Danfoss, we are proud to support SDU with our unique cooling and heat recovery systems, minimizing the project's environmental footprint and showcasing the viability of green data center technologies. This collaboration allows us to demonstrate the power of cross-industry collaboration in driving sustainable solutions and proves that sustainability, technological advancement, and commercial attractiveness can go hand in hand,” says Sune T. Baastrup, Chief Information Officer at Danfoss.
The data center is delivered by Danfoss and HPE Services and will be based on an HPE Data Center Services - AI Mod POD, a modular, performance-optimized data center for AI and HPC workloads. The modular data center includes high-performance and density-optimized HPE Cray XD225v and HPE ProLiant Compute XD685 servers, HPE ProLiant DL325 and DL365 servers, HPE Networking CX6300 switches , NVIDIA Quantum-2 InfiniBand networking platform, a total of 128 NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs and direct liquid cooling. The environment takes advantage of heat reuse modules provided by Danfoss for data center heat recovery.
“HPE is a world leader in HPC and AI infrastructure and we are proud to work with the University of Southern Denmark to modernize their sovereign AI data center capabilities to advance research,” said Carsten Nielsen, Vice President and Managing Director, Nordic Cluster at HPE. “We look forward to the scientific discoveries Danish researchers will make as a result of this collaborative effort.”
Long-term perspective – a strong partnership
SDU and Danfoss already have a close collaboration, and the new data center provides further opportunities for joint research and development in AI, HPC, and more sustainable technology, while HPE delivers advanced modular data center containers and infrastructure that make the project
