Data Centres

Powering the data centre boom

Data centres are at the heart of the digital transformation and are set to play an increasingly important role in global economies in the decades to come.

The huge rise in the number and size of data centres can be attributed to the boom in artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum computing. Experts predict that Europe’s data centre power demand will triple by 2030, with billions of pounds currently being invested in new AI-ready data centres across the world.

These data centres, some of which cover hundreds of thousands of square metres, house the servers, networking equipment and storage systems that process the data we’ve all come to rely on in our daily lives, whether by accessing AI, cloud services, banking or using social media.

All these activities mean data centres use enormous amounts of electricity in complex distribution systems – and copper has a critical role to play in their success and efficiency due to its unparalleled electrical properties, ensuring seamless connectivity.

Copper is used extensively in busbars, power cables, electrical connectors, heat exchangers and power distribution strips.

Microsoft’s Chicago data centre utilised more than 2,000 tonnes of copper alone.

Why is copper so important in data centres?

Amongst the reasons why copper is so crucial in the role of data centres are:

• Made from high-purity copper, busbars are an integral part of power systems that drive the IT infrastructure in data centres.
• Copper is critical in satisfying the higher energy demand for the adoption of GPU’s (graphic processing units) in data centre IT infrastructure. These are now being used for the rapid data processing necessary for training and deployment of complex AI models.
• Copper busbars are used in UPS (Uninterrupted Power Supply) application as essential back-up for securing uptime and stability in data processing. They play an increasingly important role for AI training and fluctuating energy demand.
• Copper can withstand operating heating cycles.
• Copper plays a critical role in transferring the regulated power flows from the Grey Space (back-end power infrastructure) to the White Space (IT infrastructure) in Data Centres.
• The increasing use of modular power systems enables scalability as demand for data centres increase. This creates opportunity for the role of copper distributors like Metelec to add value to the supply chain.
• Copper busbars can be supplied with a variety of surface coatings to improve conductivity and durability.
• The ductility of copper makes it ideal for forming and to contribute to optimising space requirements.
• Copper is also fully recyclable without losing its properties, making it a green solution.

How Metelec can help with your data centre project

Supply Chain Solutions: At Metelec, we partner with some of the world’s most recognised brands, offering a solutions-led approach to help develop power infrastructure for the largest data centres.

Scalability and Modularity: The trend for modular construction and deployment of power systems is key to enabling design flexibility and scalability of data centres. Metelec can play a crucial role in supply chain management from base material continuity of supply to the provision of large-scale busbar component kits JIT ‘ready to assemble’.

Circularity: The rapid deployment of technology to facilitate AI is not only driving new data centre design, but the renewal of existing power and data processing systems. Metelec is developing the concept of ‘reverse distribution’ with capability to upcycle and recycle redundant copper bearing components through our integrated supply chain.

Sustainability: Our primary copper source has lowest embodied carbon and is 100% recycled. This can contribute to decarbonisation of the Data Centre infrastructure.

Get in touch to find out how we can provide a solution for your supply chain.