Data centers are currently estimated to account for up to 3% of global electricity consumption, a figure projected to reach 4% by 2030. An average hyperscale facility consumes between 20 and 50 MW per year, theoretically enough energy to power 37,000 homes. Vertiv experts believe this will lead to increased government scrutiny in 2023.

It's already happening in some places. Dublin, Ireland, and Singapore have taken steps to control data center energy consumption, and the massive water consumption of data centers is likely to prompt similar reviews, especially in drought-prone areas. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the water efficiency (WUE) of an average data center using evaporative cooling is 1.8 liters per kWh. That type of data center can consume between 11 and 19 million liters of water per day—similar to the capacity of a city of 30,000 to 50,000 people. The industry will continue to take steps to self-regulate and moderate consumption, such as a growing preference for environmentally friendly thermal designs, although regulatory oversight is set to increase in 2023.

Hyperscalers:
According to a recent Omdia survey, 99% of enterprise data center operators say that prefabricated, modular data center designs will be part of their future strategy in this area. That's more than a trend—it's the new normal. Vertiv experts predict continued shift in the same direction among hyperscalers through 2023 as they seek the speed and efficiency that standardization offers.

This is a new concept for leading cloud service providers worldwide, and they are turning to colocation providers, who have been standardizing for years, to make it a reality. Specifically, these cloud service providers are outsourcing their new builds to Colos to leverage its market expertise, proven repeatability, and speed of deployment. Standardization, which encompasses everything from modular components like power/cooling modules and skids to complete prefabricated installations, will soon become the default approach not only for enterprises but also for hyperscale and edge computing.

Diesel generators face real competition.
The diesel generator has long been an imperfect but unavoidable part of the data center ecosystem. It represents stored energy that largely goes unused while still requiring maintenance or refueling after long periods of inactivity. And when they are put into service, generators produce carbon emissions that operators desperately try to avoid. Some organizations are already turning to batteries to support loads for longer periods—up to five minutes in some cases—and are even designing their data centers with minimal generator capacity.

These are transitional steps to minimize the role of the generator while the industry explores other options, including new battery technologies, to achieve extended operating ranges. In 2023, Vertiv experts anticipate the emergence of a preferred alternative: hydrogen fuel cells. These fuel cells will initially function as a generator, providing momentary charging support, and eventually promise sustained or even continuous operation.

Higher Densities Change Thermal Strategies:
After years of relatively static rack densities, data center operators are increasingly requesting higher-density racks. According to the Uptime Institute’s 2022 Global Data Center Survey, more than a third of data center operators say their rack densities have increased rapidly over the past three years. This is especially true among large enterprise and hyperscale data centers, where nearly half of those operating 10MW or larger facilities reported having racks exceeding 20kW, and 20% reported using racks exceeding 40kW.

This is consistent with the maturity of liquid-cooled server technologies and their increasing acceptance and adoption. The aforementioned increases in server power consumption are occurring as the need to rapidly add capacity grows, posing a challenge for operators worldwide. This leaves them with no option but to explore the limits of existing facilities by adding computing in confined spaces, increasing rack densities, and creating thermal profiles that require liquid cooling. While liquid cooling is not a new technology, the first wave of successful, efficient, and trouble-free deployments in high-density environments has provided proof of concept that will drive adoption in the coming year. The integration of direct-to-chip cooling into the new OCP and Open19 standards will only accelerate this trend.