Data center liquid cooling: AVEVA and Schneider Electric’s joint innovation

Posted: Sep 25, 2025

Why liquid cooling? Why now?

As the global demand for data accelerates, data centers are becoming more powerful—and more power-hungry. With increased computational density comes a pressing need to manage heat more effectively and sustainably. Traditional air-cooling systems are struggling to keep up. With GPU-powered AI servers consuming over 20 times the power of standard CPU servers, racks are now pushing 132–240 kW of thermal load. This has led to a shift toward liquid cooling technologies.

The power of a unified vision

But deploying these systems at hyperscale requires more than just hardware. It demands precise thermal modeling, fluid dynamics expertise, and real-time operational insight—enter the strategic alliance between AVEVA and Schneider Electric. Combining Schneider’s energy and automation expertise with AVEVA’s leadership in industrial software, we redefine how we design, simulate, and operate mission-critical infrastructure. At the heart of this collaboration lies AVEVA™ Process Simulation, a next-generation platform that’s now being applied to one of the most pressing challenges in the digital infrastructure space: liquid cooling for data centers.

Driving efficiency in data center cooling with AVEVA Process Simulation

As operators transition to liquid cooling to enhance thermal efficiency and reduce energy consumption, AVEVA Process Simulation delivers critical value in several areas:

Accurate thermal system modeling

Engineers can simulate the full thermodynamic behavior of liquid-based cooling loops—from coolant distribution units (CDUs) and heat exchangers to pumps, chillers, and data hall manifolds. This allows teams to model real-world behavior before physical deployment, identifying risks and inefficiencies early.

“What-if” scenario testing

Liquid cooling introduces new design and control challenges. With AVEVA Process Simulation, engineers can explore alternative configurations and control strategies to maintain optimal fluid temperature and flow, ensuring safe operating conditions even under variable IT loads.

Design for resilience and redundancy

Data centers demand high reliability. The solution enables designers to model redundant cooling architectures (N+1, 2N, etc.) and understand how the system responds to equipment failures or maintenance scenarios, supporting resilient designs from the outset.

Integrated energy analysis

Coupled with Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxure™ solutions, operators can assess how liquid cooling impacts overall facility energy usage. This helps teams balance cooling performance with sustainability goals, an increasingly critical KPI in modern data center operations.

Simulation-driven innovation with real business impact

Liquid cooling is not just a technical upgrade; it's a strategic decision that affects capital cost, operational efficiency, and sustainability performance. AVEVA and Schneider Electric empower customers to make those decisions with confidence by offering:

• Collaborative digital twins that integrate process simulation, control logic, and real-time data.
• Faster commissioning through virtual prototyping and early operator training.
• Reduced energy and water use via optimized process design.
• Improved ROI on liquid cooling infrastructure investments.

A joint commitment to the future of sustainable computing

As data centers evolve to meet the demands of AI, edge computing, and massive-scale cloud operations, the ability to simulate, validate, and optimize cooling systems digitally will be a key differentiator.

Together, AVEVA and Schneider Electric offer a powerful portfolio that bridges design, operations, and sustainability, helping customers turn innovation into measurable results.

Ready to explore liquid cooling simulation?

Learn how AVEVA Process Simulation can help your team accelerate the journey to high-efficiency, low-impact data center cooling.

👉 Contact us or explore AVEVA Process Simulation.