Data centres have become critical components of digital infrastructure, which is central to economic growth. India’s data centre capacity is expected to cross 1,300 MW by the end of 2024. The total capacity is projected to reach 5,200 MW by 2029. Furthermore, India’s public cloud market is expected to grow substantially, with a projected valuation of $17.8 billion by 2027.
As the data centre sector advances, there is a growing need for sustainability and resource efficiency to meet the rising digital demand. Data centres have evolved significantly over time, prioritising sustainability and carbon reduction. New and effective solutions are being developed to support operators in achieving these goals.
Sustainable solutions: Liquid cooling
Liquid cooling has emerged as a key innovation in data centres, offering both efficiency and sustainability. Among these, immersion cooling stands out. This technique involves submerging servers and other components in thermally conductive dielectric liquids or fluids, completely eliminating the need for air cooling. By maximising the thermal transfer properties of liquids, immersion cooling is considered the most energy-efficient liquid cooling method in the market.
Another approach, direct-to-chip liquid cooling, uses cold plates, which are placed on heat-generating components to dissipate heat. Heat is transferred through single-phase cold plates or two-phase evaporation units, which can remove 70-75 per cent of heat produced by equipment within a rack. The remaining 25-30 per cent is by air-cooling systems, resulting in significant energy savings and operational efficiency.
A third solution, rear-door heat exchangers, replaces IT door racks with passive or active liquid heat exchangers. These systems can be used alongside air-cooling systems, making them particularly effective in environments with varying rack densities.
Role of AI
Artificial intelligence (AI) is also playing a crucial role in streamlining daily data centre operations by providing optimal solutions with minimal resource wastage. These solutions include AI-driven power provisioning to enhance efficiency and capacity, such as power socket provisions supporting up to 100 kW per rack and robust back-end infrastructure such as transformers, uninterruptible power supply (UPS) and diesel generator sets designed to handle loads of up to 250 kW per rack.
Further, to improve network performance, data centres are adopting AI-ready network-readiness features. These include dedicated rack space and specialised cooling techniques for network switches, though liquid cooling is excluded in these areas. Data centres are also integrating AI to streamline maintenance activities. This includes provisions for overhead cranes and forklifts to efficiently manage rack and liquid cooling maintenance. Additionally, data centres are collaborating with original equipment manufacturers to ensure the availability of spare parts, enabling quick maintenance and adherence to service-level agreements.
CtrlS’s contribution
CtrlS has been at the forefront of sustainable innovation, implementing over 200 solutions in energy and construction to achieve an industry-lowest power usage effectiveness of 1.35, reducing its carbon footprint. Notable innovations include the use of magnetic levitation technology for air-cooled chillers in high ambient temperatures, providing cooling power 10 times greater than commercial or residential AC units at just a quarter of the cost.
In addition, CtrlS has introduced the GIS substation at its Hyderabad campus, providing 250 MW of power backed by two independent sources and diverse pathways to ensure 100 per cent power availability. This set-up guarantees uninterrupted 24×7 power, reduces energy costs and reduces reliance on generators.
In renewable energy, CtrlS commissioned a captive solar power plant in Nagpur, Maharashtra. Phase I of the plant, with a capacity of 50 MW, went live in June 2024, supplying 30 per cent renewable energy to its Mumbai data centre. Phase II, scheduled to be completed by the first quarter of 2025, will increase Mumbai’s renewable energy usage to 60 per cent. Further, the Noida data centre currently operates with 60 per cent renewable energy, while the Bengaluru facility aims to reach 80 per cent through a power purchase agreement.
Future plans
CtrlS has two main priorities for the coming years. The first is to expand its footprint to over 30 existing and new locations, adding more than 600 MW of core market capacity and investing $2 billion by 2029 in next-generation technologies, AI-ready data centres and sustainability initiatives. The second priority is to achieve 100 per cent renewable energy by 2030 and net zero carbon emissions by 2040.
Based on a presentation by Anil Nama, Chief Information Officer, CtrlS Datacenters
