Sustainable data centres: Terra Cloud and Schneider Electric cooperate

December 2, 2022

  • Terra Cloud works closely with Schneider Electric to implement its Net Zero Targets
  • From cooling to DCIM to UPS: operator relies on wide range of Schneider Electric solutions
  • Switch to 100 per cent renewable energy planned 

Schneider Electric, provider for the digital transformation of energy management and automation, is further expanding its strategic partnership with Terra Cloud (Wortmann AG). The company, based in Hüllhorst near Hanover, is one of the most important regional colocation data centre operators in Germany and wants to further accelerate its commitment to sustainable data centres together with Schneider Electric. 
To optimise energy efficiency across its campus, Terra Cloud is deploying a turnkey DCIM solution from Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxure for Data Centres portfolio. As part of its Net Zero strategy, Terra Cloud is also planning a complete switch to renewable energy from onshore wind and photovoltaics (PV). Future plans include testing the benefits of rack-based liquid cooling in a new proof of concept. 

A local market leader
Terra Cloud, part of Wortmann AG, operates a highly resilient and fault-tolerant 5 MW data centre in Hüllhorst, northwest Germany. The site offers business customers a wide range of mission-critical IT services such as cloud, colocation and hosting, Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), storage, Disaster Recover (DR) and backup. 
Thanks to its strategic partnership with Schneider Electric, Terra Cloud currently operates one of the most energy-efficient colocation data centres in the region. The company has seen growing demand from partners and customers for its cloud and hosted IT services over the past decade. With rising energy costs in the region, the company has been quick to recognise the benefits of high operational and energy efficiency. As a result, Terra Cloud’s business customers have realised cost savings of 20 to 30 per cent when moving their IT to a hosted environment from the colocation specialist.

Optimising efficiency and sustainability
Terra Cloud was the first colocation provider in Europe to use Schneider Electric’s Galaxy VL UPS system with lithium-ion technology and patented eConversion mode to achieve 99 per cent UPS efficiency. The company also uses circular economy processes to recycle IT components and servers or reuse them in refurbishment processes. 
To track and continuously optimise its efficiency, Terra Cloud also relies on Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxure for Data Centres architecture. In addition, many other Schneider Electric products and solutions are used at the Hüllhorst site, including APC NetShelter SX racks, PDUs, low- and medium-voltage switchgear from Schneider Electric, and side coolers and chillers from Schneider Electric subsidiary Uniflair. The EcoStruxure IT Data Center Expert and Data Center Operations DCIM solutions will also be used in combination with a Schneider Electric integrated building management system (BMS). 
As part of its new sustainability strategy, Terra Cloud plans to use onshore wind and solar power in the future, moving from a mix of 80 per cent renewable and 20 per cent conventional energy sources to 100 per cent renewable energy. Terra Cloud will also work with Schneider Electric to create a proof of concept to test the energy efficiency and benefits of rack-based liquid cooling. 

“Resilience, efficiency and sustainability have become focal points for our industry. It is important that we explore all options to achieve Net-Zero,” says Vincent Barro, VP, Secure Power Division, Schneider Electric DACH. “We have worked with Terra Cloud from the beginning to perfectly support the technical design and efficiency requirements of their campus. We are delighted that we can now extend our partnership even further to take an important next step towards a sustainable data centre.”

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