Eaton opens new data centre power modules factory

Intelligent power management company Eaton, and data centre design and build company CTS Nordics, are opening the new NordicEPOD factory in Oslo. NordicEPOD’s state-of-the art facility is now manufacturing standardised power modules called EPODs that shave weeks off data centre construction time.

Eaton’s proprietary technology, embedded in the EPODs, guarantees a supply of highly energy-efficient critical power to the servers via Eaton's EnergyAware UPS – an advanced Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) that data centres can use to help grids integrate a higher proportion of variable renewables. Together with Eaton’s well-proven SF6-free medium voltage switchgear, EnergyAware makes these EPODs different to any similar prefabricated power modules. The EPOD technology offer to data centre operators is truly unique.

Power modules are increasingly the preferred approach for many data centre customers in Europe, and Eaton will supply NordicEPOD with critical power products and services at pre-engineered system level. The 12,000 square-meter facility will manufacture up to 350 EPODs per year.

CTS Nordics is a dedicated data centre design and build company that specialises in new building design and construction methods, providing data centre operators with a standardised, rapidly deployable, cost-effective approach to the design, construction and commissioning of data centres.

Eaton technology sits at the heart of the EPODs which leave the factory fully digitally enabled, with Level 1 to 3 Commissioning complete, ready for swift and efficient integration and operation at the construction site. This reduces the number of skilled workers required on site and thus delivers substantial cost savings. EPODs are built to the same design to achieve fast turnaround times while maintaining the highest quality standards, although customisation is possible, if required by the customer.

Engineered to sit between the power grid and the IT infrastructure of the data centre, EPODs contains critical power, backup, cooling, and control systems, including Eaton’s Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPSs) and switchgear to support the supply of up to 2MW of electrical power.

This new factory opening is timely because demand for new data centre capacity is booming, driven by the voracious needs of Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications for computing power and energy. With its plentiful supply of renewable energy, the Nordic region is benefitting from this growth. In fact, NordicEPOD’s new factory, with an expanding 300-strong workforce, is in the growing digital industry hub now forming at Hanekleiva.

Ciarán Forde, vice president, strategic accounts and alliances, Eaton, EMEA, said: “Eaton’s advanced EnergyAware UPS, based on silicon-carbide inverters, together with the most proven SF6-free medium voltage switchgear in the industry, are amongst the features that make this EPOD technology offer to data centre operators truly unique. The EPODs contain other well-proven Eaton technology, too, including transformers and medium-voltage ring main units (RMU).”

Gisle Eckhoff, vice president, business development, CTS Nordics, said: “Our expertise in data centre design, together with Eaton’s proven power management technology, global reach and commitment, are encapsulated in the EPOD and it adds up to a winning formula for the data centre industry which need to build capacity fast, despite the shortage of construction and engineering skills across Europe.”