Input Stories

Global construction and mining equipment leader Caterpillar has partnered with critical digital infrastructure company Vertiv to optimize the powering of data centers (POWER Magazine).

What’s going on: “The initiative unveiled [on] November 18 will integrate Vertiv’s power distribution and cooling portfolio with Caterpillar’s … product and expertise in power generation and CCHP (combined cooling, heat and power) to deliver predesigned architectures that simplify deployment, accelerate time-to-power and optimize performance for data center operations.”

What it will entail: Caterpillar and its subsidiary Solar Turbines will offer power generation solutions, including natural gas turbines and reciprocating engines, to deliver dependable, scalable energy for CCHP.

• Vertiv will supply power and cooling services “packaged as modular, predesigned blocks, to shorten design cycles and standardize deployment.”

Why it’s important: The agreement between the two firms aims to address the gap between anticipated energy output and demand for artificial intelligence.

• It “responds to a growing trend where data center operators are developing on-site generation capabilities to support high-density AI workloads” (Construction Digital).
• The collaboration’s modular design, which contains uninterruptable power supply systems and is preconfigured to function with Caterpillar generators, will allow “construction and systems integration to happen in parallel rather than sequentially, potentially reducing overall project timelines.”
• It could also improve facilities’ power usage effectiveness, particularly in instances where combined heat and power systems capture and reuse waste heat.

In their words: “As AI workloads continue to accelerate, the demand for robust and scalable power infrastructure and cooling is becoming increasingly critical,” Caterpillar Power and Energy Group President Jason Kaiser said.