The power demands of data centers have grown from tens to two hundred kilowatts in just a few years. This rapid pace has data center developers scrambling to design future facilities that can handle the load. According to Tim Heidel, CEO of Veir, the next couple of years will see demands reach six hundred kilowatts and then a full megawatt. He notes that the industry is now trying to design data centers with multi-megawatt racks.
At these massive scales, even the low-voltage cables that bring power to the racks become problematic. They start to take up too much space and generate excessive heat. To address this issue, Veir has adapted its superconducting electrical cables for use inside the data center. The Microsoft-backed startup’s first product will be a cable system capable of carrying three megawatts of low-voltage electricity.
To demonstrate the technology, Veir built a simulated data center near its headquarters in Massachusetts. The cables are scheduled to be piloted in data centers next year, with an expected commercial launch in 2027.
Superconductors are a class of materials that can conduct electricity with zero loss of energy. The only requirement is that they must be cooled well below freezing temperatures. Veir had previously focused on using superconductors to improve capacity on long-distance transmission lines. However, utilities are cautious and slow to adopt new technology. While utilities may eventually use superconductors for high-demand transmission lines, that transition is farther in the future.
The pace at which the data center community is moving and evolving is far higher than the transmission community, Heidel said. Veir has been in talks with data centers for years, and recently the tone of those conversations changed. While many were concerned with grid interconnection problems, a handful of potential customers began reporting really hard problems to solve on their campuses and inside their buildings.
The startup took the same core technology developed for transmission lines and adapted it for the low-voltage needs of data centers. Veir buys the superconductors from the same suppliers and wraps them in a jacket containing liquid nitrogen coolant. This keeps the material at minus 196 degrees Celsius, or minus 321 degrees Fahrenheit. Termination boxes sit at the end of the cables to transition from superconductors to copper cables.
Heidel described the company as a systems integrator that builds the cooling systems, manufactures the cables, and puts the whole system together to deliver an enormous amount of power in a small space. The result is cables that require twenty times less space than copper while carrying power five times farther.
The AI and data center community is desperate to find solutions today and to stay ahead of the curve. There is a tremendous amount of competitive pressure to remain at the forefront.