ABB has made a strategic investment in OctaiPipe, a UK provider of AI-driven software that supports energy-efficient data centre cooling. Through ABB Motion Ventures, the company has taken a minority stake in OctaiPipe to form a partnership focused on reducing electricity use, improving operational resilience, and enabling data centre operators to meet increasing sustainability and reporting requirements. The transaction is subject to standard closing conditions, and financial terms have not been disclosed.
Data centre capacity
Demand for global data centre capacity continues to rise, with forecasts pointing to annual growth of between 19 and 22 per cent from 2023 to 2030. This expansion places sustained pressure on electricity networks, particularly as cooling systems can represent up to 40 per cent of a data centre’s total energy use. Against this backdrop, AI-optimised cooling technologies are becoming central to digital construction strategies, data centre energy-efficiency programmes, and long-term infrastructure planning.
AI platform
OctaiPipe’s on-premise AI platform introduces an approach designed to deliver rapid optimisation without new hardware. The company reports potential energy savings of up to 30 per cent in cooling operations, achieved through real-time analysis, automated adjustments, and continuous performance monitoring. These short payback periods are aligned with operators’ expectations for scalable, low-disruption digital solutions that improve efficiency across existing assets.
Electricity consumption
Data centres accounted for around 1.5 per cent of global electricity consumption in 2024, with the US representing approximately 45 per cent of this figure. Projections indicate that US data centre power demand could drive nearly half of the country’s overall growth in electricity consumption through to 2030. As operators expand capacity, AI-enabled optimisation is becoming a critical component of digital energy-management strategies.
Coordinated cooling
Eric Topham, CEO and co-founder of OctaiPipe, highlighted the role of federated learning within the platform. He described the system as coordinating cooling performance based on operational need, enabling secure and compliant optimisation. Through the partnership with ABB, OctaiPipe aims to extend the deployment of its AI technologies and support operators as they adapt to rapid market change.
Energy efficiency
ABB emphasised the importance of energy-efficiency measures for data-intensive industries. Ankush Gulati, Energy Efficiency Programme Lead at ABB Motion Services, noted that integrating OctaiPipe’s software capabilities strengthens ABB’s offering for data centres seeking to optimise cooling infrastructure. With electricity demand from data processing expected to surpass that of manufacturing energy-intensive goods in the US by 2030, the need for scalable digital-efficiency tools is becoming more pronounced.
Digital twins
OctaiPipe’s platform incorporates federated AI, multi-agent reinforcement learning, and digital twins to optimise cooling setpoints while maintaining compliance and operational safety. Its on-premise architecture supports organisations that prefer to avoid cloud-based data handling, offering a route to scalable and secure deployment. The partnership provides a roadmap for reliability, performance optimisation, and improved energy management across data centre estates.
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