A major cooling load
Cooling weighs heavily on the electricity consumption and PUE of your facilities.
Sector
Cool your data centres with the sea.
Cooling is a major share of a data centre’s energy bill. On a coastal or island site, deep sea water offers a near-free cold source, available around the clock, that drives the PUE down.
EER > 10
versus 2.5 to 3.5 for a conventional cooling plant
5 to 50+ MW
cooling capacity addressable on a single loop
24/7
cold source available continuously, weather-independent
The cooling load
Cooling, the largest non-IT load.
PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness) is the ratio of the total energy consumed by a site to the energy consumed by IT equipment alone. A PUE of 1.5 means that for every useful kWh, the site draws another 0.5 kWh in losses and support services.
Cooling is generally the largest contributor to that gap. Reducing the electricity used to produce cooling therefore acts directly on the PUE, on the energy bill and on the carbon footprint of the site.
Rising rack density driven by artificial intelligence workloads makes this harder: more power per square metre, so more heat to remove, on equipment that tolerates variation poorly.
Challenges
What is at stake in your sector
Carbon and regulatory pressure
Decarbonisation, waste-heat recovery and energy sobriety: requirements keep tightening.
24/7 continuity
Your infrastructure demands reliable, permanent cooling, with no compromise.
The Value Park answer
Sustainable cooling, tailored to your infrastructure.
On a coastal or island site, our SWAC system draws deep sea water (around 5°C) as a natural cold source. We audit your facility, size the loop and integrate it with your existing cooling plant, with conventional backup.
EER above 10 (vs 2.5 to 3.5)
Up to 90% less cooling electricity
No fluorinated gases, low carbon footprint
Available 24/7, weather-independent
Further reading: Understanding data centre cooling (Data Center Frontier)
Technical landscape
Four families of cooling, and where SWAC fits.
A data centre can be cooled in several ways. Each has its limits, and none removes the need for a cold source.
Air and free cooling
Cooling with outside air when the climate allows. Simple and proven, but its efficiency drops as soon as outdoor temperatures rise, and it plateaus at high densities.
Evaporative and adiabatic
Uses water evaporation to lower temperature. More effective than air alone, but water-hungry, which becomes difficult in water-stressed regions.
Liquid: direct-to-chip, immersion
Brings the coolant as close as possible to the components. Now necessary for GPU and AI densities, but the heat still has to be rejected to a cold source.
Hybrid
Combines several approaches depending on the season, the site load and the availability of water.
SWAC does not replace any of these families: it replaces the cold source that feeds them. Where a chiller has to manufacture cooling by consuming electricity, deep sea water already supplies it, at around 5°C and continuously. A SWAC loop therefore works just as well with air distribution as with liquid or hybrid downstream.
Eligibility
Is your site suitable?
LocationCoastal or island site with access to deep cold water within a reasonable distance
Depths400 m to 1000+ m depending on the zone (5 to 6°C from 700 m in tropical waters)
Cooling capacityFrom 5 MW to 50+ MW of cooling capacity on a single loop
PipesHDPE PE100, GRP, coated steel; Ø 400 mm to 1600 mm
ExchangersTitanium plate, shell-and-tube, multi-pass; sea-water resistant
ContinuityIntegration with the existing cooling plant, with conventional backup
Regulatory scopeICPE study, thermal-discharge monitoring, coastal-law compliance
Our approach
How a project unfolds
01
Resource study
Bathymetry, thermal profile, currents. Identification of the optimal route for the intake pipe.
02
Techno-economic feasibility
Loop sizing against your IT load, economic model and risk scenarios.
03
Detailed design
Pipes, pumping stations, titanium exchangers, connection to your cooling plant and to the backup.
04
Project management
Supervision of marine and onshore works, commissioning and initial operation.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Is SWAC compatible with an existing data centre?
Yes. The SWAC loop feeds your cooling plant upstream, replacing or complementing the chillers. Your internal distribution, whether air or liquid, does not have to be redesigned. Conventional backup is retained to guarantee continuity of service.
What effect does SWAC have on PUE?
SWAC acts on the largest contributor to the gap between total site energy and strictly IT energy. By removing most of the electricity used to produce cooling, it mechanically improves PUE. The exact gain depends on your facility and is quantified during the audit.
Is SWAC suitable for the high densities driven by AI?
Yes, because SWAC is a cold source, not a distribution method. It can feed air-to-water exchangers just as well as a direct-to-chip liquid cooling loop. The higher the density, the more valuable a natural cold source at around 5°C becomes.
What happens if the marine loop fails?
The installation is designed with conventional backup sized to take over. Continuity of service is a design prerequisite, exactly as it is for a hospital complex such as CHU Sud Réunion.
My data centre is not near the sea. What do you offer?
SWAC requires access to deep cold water. If your site does not qualify, our two other disciplines still apply: an energy audit to identify savings on your current cooling, and refurbishment of your chillers to improve their efficiency and move away from fluorinated gases.
A data centres project to cool?
Tell us about your site: we quickly assess the relevance of a study.
Our solutions