Motivair by Schneider Electric has introduced two new Coolant Distribution Units (CDUs), the MCDU-45 and MCDU-55, developed to address the increasing cooling demands of high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI) workloads in data centers. The company reports that these CDUs are its first models designed specifically for installation within utility corridors, presenting data center operators with improved deployment flexibility and integration options.
The MCDU-45 and MCDU-55 expand the company’s liquid cooling portfolio by offering wider cooling capacities, operating ranges, and support for a greater variety of chilled water temperatures. Motivair by Schneider Electric states that this allows data center operators to optimize liquid cooling deployment and adapt strategies for hyperscale, colocation, edge, and retrofit environments. Both models will be available globally, with production scaling up in early 2026.
The company highlights several technical benefits of the new CDUs: they offer expanded placement flexibility for operators, enable energy savings through broad operating temperature ranges, and allow CDUs to be sited beyond typical white space areas. Maintenance access is also improved, minimizing operational disruption during servicing. Additionally, the complete CDU range (MCDU-25 through MCDU-60) integrates with chiller plants and features precise flow control, real-time monitoring, and adaptive load balancing to support advanced thermal management and reduce energy consumption.
Andrew Bradner, Senior Vice President, Cooling Business at Schneider Electric, stated, “When it comes to data center liquid cooling, flexibility is the key with customers demanding a more diverse and larger portfolio of end-to-end solutions.” He continued, “Our new CDUs, announced today, allow customers to match deployment strategies to a wider range of accelerated computing applications while leveraging decades of specialized cooling experience to ensure optimal performance, reliability, and future-readiness.”
This launch marks Motivair by Schneider Electric’s first new product introduction since Schneider Electric acquired Motivair in February 2025. The company says the new CDUs are designed to meet surging demand in HPC, AI factory, and advanced data center environments driven by rapid growth in high-density computing applications.
Source: Schneider Electric
