Siemens Smart Infrastructure and Rittal (Friedhelm Loh Group) have announced a strategic partnership to jointly develop “future-proof, sustainable solutions for more efficient data center power distribution” in the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) market. It says the goal is standardized infrastructure that accelerates construction of high-performance data centers, reduces time-to-compute, and supports rising AI-driven power densities.
In AI data centers, power densities “exceeding 100 kW per rack have become the norm,” and it says power density “could increase to more than 1 MW” by 2030. Siemens and Rittal say this trajectory requires new architecture across power distribution, cooling, and heat recovery, with Siemens focused on efficient and safe power distribution and Rittal supplying racks and standardized infrastructure, including power and cooling, for hyperscale operators.
One of the first joint developments is a “sidecar” application designed to sit in the data hall white space near IT equipment. The partners say it bundles power electronics into a dedicated power rack that supplies adjacent server racks, aiming to deliver “a fast, simple, standardized, and scalable supply of power” for future AI deployments. The companies also cite Open Compute Project (OCP) standards and a modular approach using “tested technology from Rittal and Siemens,” which it says is intended to enable fast deployment, high availability, and reliable operation.
Beyond the sidecar concept, Siemens and Rittal say other projects include a standardized low-voltage distribution system for modular and containerized data centers, plus “optimized solutions for operational and personal safety,” with first customer projects already underway. The press release attributes these data center applications to “coordinated components from Siemens and the power distribution platforms RiLineX and Ri4Power from Rittal Energy & Power Solutions.”
The collaboration is expected to extend to other industries and applications over time.
Source: Siemens
