Schneider Electric, a French provider of digital automation and energy management, has invested S$1.2 million in collaboration with the Sustainable Tropical Data Centre Testbed (STDCT), Asia’s first-of-its-kind data centre testbed designed for the tropical climate.
More power and energy are often needed to maintain regulated settings in data centres in tropical nations like Singapore, resulting in high costs and carbon emissions. As a result, the testbed hopes to pioneer green and effective cooling solutions, enabling data centres in the tropics to run efficiently.
Using proven discoveries, the STDCT also hopes to build operating guidelines and set industry standards. The improvements could be commercialised, increasing Singapore’s competitiveness in offering sustainable and efficient data centre solutions.
Schneider Electric will deliver solutions such as Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) systems, fan walls, busways, and Smart Low-Voltage (LV) Panels as part of the agreement.
The STDCT will also be integrated with Schneider Electric’s building management system, EcoStruxure Building Operations, an open and scalable next-generation building management solution comprised of an integrated ecosystem of smart devices, software, apps, and services.
EcoStruxure Building Operations also includes an energy management interface that allows the management team to monitor, benchmark, analyse, and change the testbed’s performance for increased energy and operational efficiency.
Schneider Electric will also serve on the executive committee, to contribute industry knowledge and ideas.
Funded by Singapore’s National Research Foundation and hosted at the National University of Singapore (NUS), the facility is supported by a consortium of industry partners. Research activities at the STDCT are co-led by NUS and the Nanyang Technological University (NTU).
“Asia’s burgeoning digital economy is driving unprecedented demand for data centres,” said Yoon Young Kim, Schneider Electric’s cluster president for Singapore and Brunei.
However, he added that cooling these centres come at a great financial and environmental cost.
Working with experienced partners like Schneider Electric will help with innovation at STDCT, providing a platform for research and advancements that will benefit the region and the global data centre landscape, said Lee Poh Seng, Associate Professor, programme director of the STDCT.
