Data centres use an increasing share of the world’s electricity capacity, and the rapid growth of AI is expected to exacerbate the problem. The International Energy Agency (IEA) reports that data centres consume over 1% of the world’s electricity today and emit as much CO2 as the commercial airline industry, but this could increase by 85.4–134.0 TWh before 2027 driven by the power needs of AI chips. Some estimates suggest that annual electricity demand for information and communication technology could grow to as much as 8,000 TWh by 2030, equating to 20.9% of projected electric demand.

Under the AI Net Zero collaboration, NexGen Cloud's AI solutions will be hosted on AQ Compute's European infrastructure that uses renewable energy to power and cool its data centres. The partnership will aim to ensure that NexGen Cloud’s $1 billion AI supercloud will be net zero.

NexGen Cloud is investing $1 billion to build Europe’s first AI Supercloud to support Artificial Intelligence applications across healthcare, finance, media and entertainment. The European AI Supercloud will eventually consist of more than 20,000 NVIDIA H100 Tensor Core GPUs by June 2024, providing enterprises with access to one of the world’s most powerful GPU-accelerated platforms.

“The AI market is expected the grow exponentially over the next 12-24 months and as such it is imperative to decarbonise as much of the data generated as possible,” said Chris Starkey, CEO, NexGen Cloud. “By housing the data created within our AI Supercloud in AQ Compute data centres, we are not just innovating technologically, we are pioneering a sustainable shift in the way AI data is processed. We are not only the first to be doing this in Europe but hope to set the industry standard at the same time.”

AQ Compute is able to run its high-density data centres efficiently, supporting client’s sustainability goals and enabling the deployment and growth of AI applications. NexGen Cloud will improve its energy efficiency while wasting no water in the cooling process.

“AQ Compute has set out to deliver sustainable and efficient solutions for the data centre and colocation industry. Considering the growing importance of AI technology, we are excited to partner with NexGen Cloud to create a sustainable path for implementing this new technological advancement,” said Henry Daunert, CEO, AQ Compute. “By providing a modular and low-carbon design, powered by clean energy, we are proud to set an industry standard for AI-ready data centres. We will continue to lead the way to a highly efficient and environmentally sustainable data centre industry and enable our clients to reduce their carbon footprint and implement the technologies of the future.”

AQ Compute and NexGen Cloud share an ambitious commitment to deliver net zero emissions operations by 2030 in line with the Carbon-Neutral Data Centre Pact (CNDCP). This commitment involves structuring power purchases to match hourly carbon-free electricity generation with consumption, a strategic move towards a more sustainable and environmentally friendly future.