Paris, 26 November 2021 - Interxion: A Digital Realty Company (NYSE: DLR) and a leading European provider of cloud- and carrier-neutral data centre, colocation and interconnection solutions, today announces that its innovative River Cooling solution is now 100 percent operational at its Interxion Marseille Campus – MRS2 and MRS3 data centres – located in the port of Marseille. It will also be immediately operational at Interxion’s MRS4 data centre when completed, currently slated for Q2 next year.
The €15 million cooling solution, which is up to 30 times more energy efficient than traditional cooling systems, will result in savings of up to 18,400 megawatt hour (MWh) annually, while simultaneously mitigating the emission of 795 tons of CO2, the equivalent of 5,560 trees planted each year. It also helps to significantly improve the power usage effectiveness (PUE) of Interxion’s data centres located in the port of Marseille, which will no longer be reliant on electric chillers. Typically, only 19 percent of the most efficient data centres in France achieve a PUE of less than 1.6 1. However, with the new solution operational, Interxion’s Marseille data centres could reach an as-designed PUE of 1.2, solidifying their place among France’s most energy efficient data centres.
The solution, which took two and a half years to build and includes more than three kilometers of buried networks and 27 heat exchangers, works by diverting underground water from a former industrial facility dating back to the late 19th century, ‘La Galerie de la Me’. The structure collects and channels rainwater that seeps in from the old mines of Gardanne to the Grand Port Maritime de Marseille. Kept at 15°C year-round, the water is channeled via a buried The solution, which took two and a half years to build and includes more than three kilometers of buried networks and 27 heat exchangers, works by diverting underground water from a former industrial facility dating back to the late 19th century, ‘La Galerie de la Me’. The structure collects and channels rainwater that seeps in from the old mines of Gardanne to the Grand Port Maritime de Marseille. Kept at 15°C year-round, the water is channeled via a buried network and pumping station near to the Interxion data centres, which is then used to cool them by thermal exchange.network and pumping station near to the Interxion data centres, which is then used to cool them by thermal exchange.
Developed with a circular economy approach in mind, Interxion’s River Cooling solution will eventually be used to supply the Euromediterranée urban heating network and cover the needs of 500,000sqm of offices and homes.
"In addition to seeking local resources for cooling our data centres, we are systematically studying the availability of the calories emitted by our data centres for district heating purposes. River cooling is therefore a successful example of innovation and circular integration in its territory. As a result, this project has received technical and financial support from Ademe (French Environment and Energy Management Agency) and the South Region, who we would like to thank", adds Linda Lescuyer, Energy Director, Interxion France.
"The River Cooling solution reflects our strong desire to support the development of the digital economy while minimizing the impact of our data centres on the environment. How do we do this? By providing the eco-responsible data centres that our customers, investors, employees and citizens expect. This innovation provides our customers with a solution that is 30 times more energy efficient than traditional cooling systems, enabling them to reduce the carbon footprint of their data centres at Interxion and meet their CSR objectives," says Fabrice Coquio, Managing Director, Interxion France.
The River Cooling solution is a valuable addition to PlatformDIGITAL®, Digital Realty’s global data centre platform, designed to enable enterprises to scale their digital business flexibly and efficiently. It also reinforces Digital Realty's global commitment to reduce its direct emissions by 68 percent and its indirect emissions by 24 percent by 2030, based on the Science-Based Targets Initiative (SBTi), as well as Interxion France’s ambition to limit its environmental impact. In fact, the French subsidiary is the first data centre player in France to have achieved carbon neutrality by 2020 for scopes one and two – scope three is currently being assessed.
The solution was designed by Interxion, Dalkia Smart Building and EDF Group with the support of four major companies which helped to implement the solution: Cap Ingelec, Largier Technologies, Schneider Electric and Victaulic.
Additional Resources
- How it works: watch the River Cooling video
- Interxion's River Cooling demo is available here