Key Highlights
- Rising temperatures and aging HVAC infrastructure put data centres at risk of overheating and failure.
- Aggreko recommends emergency supplemental cooling and strong contingency planning to maintain uptime.
- Recent incidents in the UK during heatwaves highlight the potential for catastrophic service disruptions and data loss.
As Europe enters more frequent heatwaves, data centre operators face growing pressure to reinforce cooling systems. Aggreko, a global energy solutions provider, has recently warned that even modern facilities are vulnerable when older cooling assets are pushed beyond their design limits, potentially leading to equipment damage, service outages, and significant downtime costs.
Heatwaves: A Growing Threat to Data Centre Stability
In the UK, temperatures have soared above 25 °C and reached 32 °C in London, mirroring Caribbean conditions in some areas. Older data centres, especially those with blocked condenser coils or outdated HVAC units, can quickly overheat without adequate backup cooling support.
Aggreko advises data centre managers to employ temporary chillers and hire emergency HVAC systems preemptively.
These extreme conditions are not theoretical. In July 2022, heatwaves caused cooling systems at NHS data centres in London to fail, leading to six-week downtimes and £1.4 million in losses. Such events highlight the importance of robust continuity plans, including clear protocols and rapid deployment agreements for supplemental equipment.
Aggreko’s Call for Proactive Cooling Strategies
Aggreko’s specialists, like Chris Smith, encourage operators to assess their cooling capacity, update infrastructure plans, and ensure redundancy, especially in light of increasingly unpredictable summers.
With climate change accelerating, data centres must rethink design and preparedness. Integrating supplemental cooling and thorough contingency plans is no longer optional—it’s essential for safeguarding uptime, protecting data integrity, and avoiding costly outages.