Bechtel and Nautilus Data Technologies have entered a partnership to build data centres which use 70% less power for cooling and eliminate the consumption of drinking water.

The two companies said the collaboration will help to transform the environmental footprint of the data centre sector and to close the digital divide by deploying to cities, rural communities and developing economies around the world.

Peter Nelson, Director of Infrastructure Development at Bechtel Enterprises, the project development and financing arm of Bechtel, explained: “Data centres support critical aspects of local, regional and international economic development.  As demand for these facilities continues to grow, so does the demand for the resources necessary to power and cool them.

“Our partnership with Nautilus provides a much more environmentally sustainable solution that means we can help our customers meet soaring digital needs responsibly.”

Nautilus’ data centres enable and support the energy-intensive, high-performance servers needed for artificial intelligence and machine learning applications that are increasingly critical in smart city, smart transportation, smart grid, telemedicine, public health and security solutions. 

Nautilus’ Total Resource Usage Effectiveness (TRUE) technology, is a patented closed-loop water cooling system that uses naturally cold water to keep server racks cool.

TRUE consists of a combination of maritime and industrial cooling methods that use 70% less power than traditional computer room air-conditioning uses for cooling, leading to a 30+% net reduction in energy-related CO2 and air pollution.

The system uses naturally cold water from rivers, lakes or bays and returns all of it to its source after use. 

James Connaughton, CEO of Nautilus, said: “We are looking forward to working with the Bechtel team to transform the data centre sector on a global scale.

“Through this partnership, we will deliver sustainable, high-performance data centre infrastructure and bring modern digital services to people around the world who need it most.”