Data Centre Magazine showcases some of its favourite stories from 2024 that dominated the headlines over the course of the year.

10. How Nokia Will Support AI Workloads at Nscale Data Centre

Nokia is building an IP network for Nscale’s new sustainable data centre to support AI workloads. The data centre, which is powered by renewable energy and optimised for energy-efficient cooling, will enable cutting-edge AI services, including Graphics Processing Unit as a Service (GPUaaS), a technology which Nscale is a global leader in.

Announced in December 2024, the new IP network will support growing global demand for AI-driven applications, which inevitably consume significant amounts of data. The telco says that its Ethernet-based data centre fabric also provides scalability, programmability and low-latency performance.

9. Ex-BP Chief to Chair Prometheus Hyperscale and Develop AI

Former BP chief Bernard Looney joined Prometheus Hyperscale, a newer data centre company, with the intention of helping its data centre development.

After working in oil sales for more than 30 years, the former BP CEO is now eager to confront sustainable data centre progress. He will be working with Prometheus Hyperscale as chair and supporting the company’s plans to build a sustainable one-gigawatt (1GW) data centre in Wyoming, worth US$10bn.

“The opportunity to address these challenges is why I’ve joined Prometheus Hyperscale as chairman,” Bernard said to The Financial Times. “I can’t think of a more exciting challenge. How do we deliver net positive AI? How do we unleash AI to propel the world forward?”

8. AI Data Centre Boom: UK Government Poised for Growth Plans

The UK government is gearing up for massive data centre growth. According to Onnec in November 2024, 89% of data centre applications had been approved in 20 of the biggest UK cities.

However, Onnec warned that a lack of holistic design and a focus on London as a major hub could result in data centres being developed that are unable to deliver on the country’s needs.

The UK has experienced an overhaul in its relationship with data centres in 2024, particularly after the country classified data centres as critical national infrastructure in September.

7. Scala Data Centers Inaugurates Phase 2 of Tamboré Campus

Eager to develop the data centre market across Latin America (LATAM), Scala Data Centers commenced Phase 2 of its Tamboré Campus, committing US$1.13bn to support sustainable data centre growth.

As a leading provider of sustainable hyperscale data centres across LATAM, Scala Data Centers was the first data centre company in Latin America to use 100% renewable energy. Its Tamboré Campus is the largest in Latin America and follows a US$1.13bn dollar investment.

The second phase will have 158 MW of IT capacity, including two buildings already in operation, which both serve two Hyperscale clients.

6. Vantage Data Centers Expands EMEA Portfolio in Dublin

Vantage Data Centers announced its arrival in the Irish market earlier in 2024, with a €1bn (US$1,072.bn) investment for the development of a multi-phase data centre campus.

The Ireland campus will be close to Dublin City Centre and will consist of two facilities, one 32MW and one 20MW, with the available land and power to add an additional facility later on.

Both facilities are also being built in alignment with Vantage’s sustainability pledge and deliver an annualised Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) of 1.2.

5. Exclusive Video: Tech Mahindra’s Manish Mangal at MWC 2024

Manish Mangal, Global Business Head of 5G & Network Services at Tech Mahindra, said he envisions AI as the cornerstone of innovation in the networking landscape.

In an exclusive interview with us at MWC24, Manish elaborated on how Tech Mahindra is spearheading the integration of AI to revolutionise network operations and thereby driving efficiency and facilitating innovation at every turn.

“The cloud has been a fundamental path for the last several years, but this is really giving us an opportunity to take cloud to the next level and leverage AI use,” he says.

4. Top 10: Women in Data Centres in MEA

Women continue to currently make up less than 10% of the global data centre industry, with this figure remaining unchanged for several years. According to Intelligent CIO, the low number of women in the data centre sector is not unique or local.

This was one of our favourite Top 10s in 2024, as we remain committed to championing gender diversity and equalities within the data centre industry. Here, we highlighted some of the leading women working in data centres across the Middle East and Africa (MEA), where figures are lower.

The list showcases leading figures such as Mara Manni, Funke Opeke and Fatma Ashkanani, who you can read about via the above link.

3. Schneider Electric & Nvidia to Deliver Robust Data Centre AI

Deeply committed to energy management and advanced AI, Schneider Electric and Nvidia have partnered to introduce the first publicly available AI data centre reference designs. These designs aim to redefine the benchmarks for AI deployment and operation within data centres, whilst offering a robust framework for implementing NVIDIA’s accelerated computing platform within data centres.

These designs will also optimise performance, scalability and energy efficiency. The news came shortly after Nvidia’s GTC announcements, where the company launched its revolutionary B200 chip.

2. Google US$1bn Data Centre Investment: Supporting AI Growth

Technology leader Google has announced a US$1bn investment into a new UK data centre, as it continues to expand its data centre presence.

The new site will help power popular digital Google’s services for people and organisations worldwide, as well as playing a crucial role in supporting the company’s artificial intelligence (AI) innovations.

Google’s data centres are some of the most efficient in the world and this new facility will allow for off-site heat recovery and provide the UK with more compute capacity. The heat generated by the data centre can be captured and used to heat nearby homes and businesses.

1. AI Boom Will Cause Data Centre Electricity Demand to Double

AI and other new technologies continue to be in high demand worldwide, with data centres working overtime to keep up. In fact, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has forecast that data centres will double their electricity consumption between 2024 and 2026.

Such an alarming figure will inevitably continue to impact the data centre sector moving into 2025. Industry leaders will need to confront how best to keep pace with continued rising demand for AI. They will also need to boost capacity in a way that is economically viable and sustainable.

https://datacentremagazine.com/top10/top-10-stories-that-dominated-the-data-centre-sector