The Tech Behind Data Centres: Cooling, Power, and Scale

This podcast is a live recording from a Tech Thursday that took place in Calgary called 'The Tech Behind Data Centres'. Our speakers were:

• Thomas Farran, VP at Longbow Capital. Longbow is an investor in VoltaGrid, a company that just signed a 2.3GW deal with Oracle.
• Benjamin Sutton, Product Marketing Manager at CoolIT. CoolIT was acquired last week for $4.75B, the city’s largest tech deal ever.
• Joe Gentile, Account Executive at eStruxtures Data Centre. eStruxtures is Canada’s largest data center provider.

Moderated by: Vlad Oujegov, Founder of Western Canada Data Centre Alliance.

We discussed:

• Massive Scale: The scale of data centers is changing significantly; for example, a proposed 2.3-gigawatt facility would be the largest capital expenditure project in Canadian history.
• Bring Your Own Power (BYOP): Because local grids often cannot support gigawatt-level demands without 5–7 years of upgrades, developers are increasingly building on-site natural gas generation to meet immediate power needs.
• Grid Benefits: While some projects are "behind the meter," experts suggest grid-connected facilities can benefit the community by providing flexible loads that can be managed during peak demand or storms.

• The End of Air Cooling: Modern AI chips from Nvidia have reached a thermal limit where they can no longer be cooled by air alone.
• Liquid Cooling: New data centers are adopting 100% liquid cooling, which is far more efficient than air. This technology reduces Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) from a historical 1.6 down toward 1.1.
• Free Cooling: In regions like Alberta, operators can utilize "free air" cooling for hundreds of days a year when the ambient temperature is below 10°C, significantly reducing water and power consumption.

• Sovereign Compute: There is a growing focus on "sovereign compute" to ensure Canadian data remains under Canadian jurisdiction and brand, free from the reach of the U.S. Patriot Act.

• Market Growth: Alberta is currently viewed as a "frontier market" with over 1.2 gigawatts of approved grid-connected projects, surpassing the status of global hubs like Northern Virginia in 2018.

Follow Ben Sutton on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjaminsutton95/Follow Thomas Farran on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasfarran/Follow Joe Gentile on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/joe-gentile-20082429/Follow Vlad Oujegov on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/vladoujegov/Follow Western Canada Data Centre Alliance on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/wcdca/Follow Tech Thursday on LinkedIn:www.linkedin.com/company/tech-thursday/