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    Energy & Water Cooling Tied Together with Data Centers: New KC Project May Help through Waterless Cooling Technology

    Dec. 16, 2024
    Sometimes at least 40% of data center energy demand is for cooling the modules, while a typical hyperscale facility could use as much as 5 million gallons of water per day.
    Image credit Edged
    6760749571a94847a49b44bb Edged Kansas City Data Center

    Data center demand for energy is a rising concern both in grid and economic circles, but water use also is considered a near crisis as artificial intelligence (AI) pushes more hyperscale facilities into construction.

    Sometimes at least 40% of data center energy demand is for cooling the modules, while a typical hyperscale facility could use as much as 5 million gallons of water per day, according to reports. The need for zero-water cooling technologies is becoming a mission critical point for data center development.

    A new data center project in the Kansas City, Missouri region is utilizing waterless cooling systems which are designed to handle high-density AI workloads.

    The Edged Kansas City data center was recently put into service. It was developed by Edged, a sustainability infrastructure subsidiary of Endeavor (no connection to Endeavor Business Media, parent company of EnergyTech).

    The facility near downtown is built for 26 MW of data capacity to the region.  Edged Kansas City uses zero water and 74 percent less energy overhead as compared to conventional facilities, the company says.

    While each Edged data center is outfitted with the ThermalWorks waterless cooling system using no water, it is expected to save nearly 95 million gallons of water each year compared to conventional data centers, according to the company.

    The modular system supports ultra-high densities of up to 200 kW per rack with plug-and-play liquid cooling integration while delivering energy efficiency (average Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) of 1.15 portfolio-wide).

    "The project represents an important step in the region's continued commitment to sustainable leadership and economic growth. Edged Kansas City represents a $143M initial economic investment, bringing positive impact to the city and region at large,” said Bryant Farland, Chief Executive Officer for Edged.

    Kansas City has become an established data center hub due to the region's central location, access to low-cost reliable power and fiber connectivity, with high-speed connections from coast to coast. Real estate brokerage firm Cushman & Wakefield ranked Kansas City as a No. 1 emerging market behind established data center location leader northern Virginia.

    Edged has partnered with the city of Kansas City, Missouri, the Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City, Kansas City Area Development Council, Missouri Partnership, the Missouri Department of Economic Development and the State of Missouri to bring this facility to Kansas City.

    The data center joins a growing network of Edged facilities currently under construction or operational across the U.S., including in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Columbus and Phoenix. Edged has about 12 new data centers operating or under construction across Europe and North America and 1 GW-scale project pipeline.

     

    About the Author

    Rod Walton, EnergyTech Managing Editor | Senior Editor

    For EnergyTech editorial inquiries, please contact Managing Editor Rod Walton at [email protected].

    Rod Walton has spent 15 years covering the energy industry as a newspaper and trade journalist. He formerly was energy writer and business editor at the Tulsa World. Later, he spent six years covering the electricity power sector for Pennwell and Clarion Events. He joined Endeavor and EnergyTech in November 2021.

    Walton earned his Bachelors degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma. His career stops include the Moore American, Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise, Wagoner Tribune and Tulsa World. 

    EnergyTech is focused on the mission critical and large-scale energy users and their sustainability and resiliency goals. These include the commercial and industrial sectors, as well as the military, universities, data centers and microgrids. The C&I sectors together account for close to 30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S.

    He was named Managing Editor for Microgrid Knowledge and EnergyTech starting July 1, 2023

    Many large-scale energy users such as Fortune 500 companies, and mission-critical users such as military bases, universities, healthcare facilities, public safety and data centers, shifting their energy priorities to reach net-zero carbon goals within the coming decades. These include plans for renewable energy power purchase agreements, but also on-site resiliency projects such as microgrids, combined heat and power, rooftop solar, energy storage, digitalization and building efficiency upgrades.

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