ABB today announced the launch of Infinitus, a portfolio of direct current (DC) solutions designed to manage the increasing power demands of AI data centers. The portfolio will accelerate the adoption of DC architectures in data centers improving energy efficiency and reducing power infrastructure footprint, while increasing available computing capacity. ABB expects other energy-intensive industries to make the same transition.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) expects global data center electricity demand to more than double by 2030 and ABB estimates that approximately 25-40% of new capacity installed in 2030 could be using DC distribution. Next-generation AI chips are expected to draw 1 MW per rack and beyond, an increase from today's almost 200 kW, requiring a shift to DC architecture that can support performance while driving energy efficiency.  With 800 VDC distribution, the footprint is more compact while eliminating redundant conversion steps and cutting heat losses of conventional alternating current (AC) systems. A recent BCG / ABB report calculated that DC distribution delivers energy efficiency gains of more than 5% and increases available space for compute racks. For a 500MW data center, a 5% efficiency gain can mean 25 MW more power for revenue-generating IT loads and more than US $300 million in potential additional revenue per year. With 5% efficiency gains for a 500 MW data center campus, the energy savings over one year would be equivalent to powering Washington D.C. for almost a full week.

Giampiero Frisio, President of ABB’s Electrification business area, said: “ABB has pioneered DC technology for more than 25 years across several segments. We are working closely with chipmakers, hyperscale customers, supply partners and industry bodies to set the standards and the pace for the roll-out of high-efficiency DC architectures. Infinitus is the first portfolio providing the building blocks for any data center architecture - either DC native or hybrid AC/ DC - to power next-generation AI chips efficiently. This technology will bring similar energy efficiency gains to other energy-intensive industries such as large scale manufacturing, renewables and marine operations.”

Infinitus is the industry's first integrated source-to-rack DC portfolio. At its core is ABB’s breakthrough Infinitus solid-state transformer technology, enabling sites to operate with a smaller footprint and greater energy efficiency. As the only major electrification supplier with both the world's first fully IEC-certified solid-state circuit breaker and an industry-first static medium-voltage UPS in production, ABB delivers a breadth of technology unmatched in the market.

 

Source: abb.com

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