INTERNET Denv-R’s innovation would greatly reduce the environmental impact of these energy-intensive data centers
Computer-generated image of a floating data center such as it is designed by the Nantes company Denv-R. — IMT Atlantique
- Data centers have the major defect of needing to be permanently cooled in order to prevent servers from overheating.
- Two entrepreneurs from Nantes have found a cooling solution using the coolness of a river.
- The small floating data centers of the company Denv-R could be deployed quickly as close as possible to users .
They often go unnoticed, only their large ventilation vents generally betray their presence. Essential to the development of our digital uses, data centers are more and more numerous on the planet, especially in large cities. A growth that poses an environmental problem, insofar as their computer servers, already very power hungry, create heat and need constant cooling to operate without damage. Companies therefore seek to solve this puzzle. This is the case of Denv-R, a Nantes start-up run by two thirty-something entrepreneurs. Their idea? Use the freshness of a river, a river, or even the ocean.
“We are going to harvest the cold water from a stream to lower the temperature of the data center via a closed circuit system. Without pumping water and without further air conditioning,” explain Vincent Le Breton and Maxime Rozier, co-founders of the company” housed in the premises of the IMT Atlantique engineering school in Paris. Nantes. This process would “reduce energy consumption by 40% and C02 emissions by 40%”. Not a small saving when we know that these sites are responsible for 2 % of greenhouse gas emissions. global greenhouse effect.
In cities, closer to users
For its innovation to be optimal, Denv-R does not imagine data centers installed on a quay but rather on the water, housed in a floating structure made of recyclable steel. “A data center should ideally be as close as possible to its users and therefore in cities. But in cities land is scarce and expensive. On the water, there is room. We don’t artificialise the ground, nor do we need to create a thick slab on an existing building”, says Vincent Le Breton.
10 m long and 8 m wide, this “small catamaran” wouldn’t be more than 3m high, which “would make it easier to integrate” in the urban landscape. “It’s a small solution (200 kW), robust and which can be deployed quickly, as soon as there is a watercourse, insists the entrepreneur . Develop a network to locally, it makes sense. Especially for us Europeans, who use a lot of American technology, so with data that no longer really belongs to us.””
On the Loire in 2023 to start< /h2>
Supported by the Pays-de-la-Loire region, Denv-R will set up a demonstrator in June 2023, on the Loire, quai Wilson at Saint-Malo. Nantes. A first version estimated at 900,000 euros, including 500,000 euros for manufacturing. “Our model is less expensive than a terrestrial data center. We will be able to receive orders quite quickly”, assures Vincent Le Breton, who aims to term an international deployment. At the same time, Denv-R, which will offer an activity from January cloud business, is thinking about a somewhat larger floating structure that can accommodate offices. “We received a lot of expressions of interest from potential customers, especially for a network of several data centers,” assures Vincent Le Breton.
Outside of Europe, the company’ Californian Nautilus Data Technologies is also working on a floating data center project. A first model is already available. operational but at from a structure much larger than that of Denv-R and therefore unsuitable for city centers. “Its cooling system also requires the pumping of large amounts of water, unlike the previous model. us,” said Vincent Le Breton. As for Microsoft, he is working on data center projects placed in submerged boxes.