Cooling, Water and Data-Centre Construction Supply Chain — 2026-09-27
This week, cooling vendors dominated the news: LG Electronics joined Nvidia's official AI data-center cooling partner program, and Schneider Electric published modeling showing hotter liquid-coolant loops can halve AI data-center water use. Meanwhile, regulators moved hard on water: California signed seven data-center bills and Texas paused environmental permit approvals, as community opposition blocked $68 billion of Q2 projects.
Cooling, Water and Data-Centre Construction Supply Chain — 2026-09-27
Top developments
LG Electronics joins Nvidia's data-center cooling partner program
Chinese media reported this week that LG Electronics has joined Nvidia's AI data-center thermal-solutions official partner program as a preferred partner in the "power and cooling" category, targeting North American hyperscale and colocation markets. The move underscores how OEMs outside the traditional cooling ecosystem are positioning for liquid-cooling demand driven by Nvidia rack-scale systems. Coverage framed liquid cooling as the "next optical module" question — i.e., whether it is becoming AI infrastructure's next breakout segment.
Schneider: hotter coolant loops can halve AI data-center water consumption
On 21 September, Schneider Electric published modeling showing liquid-cooled designs running higher coolant temperatures could reduce data-center water consumption by up to half for AI halls. The Register noted Schneider has clear commercial skin in the game, but the finding lands at the exact moment water permits are hardening. Similar findings are direct ammunition for Vertiv, Schneider, and their channel partners selling liquid-cooling retrofits into water-stressed markets like Arizona and Texas.
California signs the most comprehensive US data-center laws; Texas pauses environmental permits
On 21 September, Governor Newsom signed seven bills giving communities more control over data-center water, electricity and land use, including requirements for developers to create water scarcity plans. Analysis of the package highlights a 10 MW floor, a 25 MW cap, an 11-condition CEQA framework, and a first reporting deadline in 2029. In parallel, Texas暂停 — the governor paused environmental permit approvals for data centers ahead of November's election, per the Texas Tribune on 21 September, a significant blow to one of the fastest-growing AI buildout states.
Community opposition blocked $68B of data-center projects in Q2
Tom's Hardware, 21 September, reported nearly 45–48 US data-center projects worth an estimated $68 billion were blocked or delayed in Q2 2026 as communities push back on power, water and land demands — while global data-center investment is still reportedly on track to reach $32 trillion by 2050. The disconnect matters for contractors: even accelerating budgets deliver fewer permitted halls, stretching backlogs and forcing developers toward drier liquid-cooling designs.
China's liquid-cooling market surges 45% as GB300 racks arrive
21jingji reported (21 September) that China's liquid-cooling data-center market reached RMB 159.8 billion in 2025, up 45.2%, with forecasts of RMB 232.5 billion in 2026 and a break past 400 billion by 2028, per CCID (赛迪顾问) data. Sina coverage notes a "cold-plate now, immersion later" supply-chain ladder — with vendors including Envicool (英维克), Shenling Environment (申菱环境), and Sugon DataCreate positioned across temperature-control, server ODM, and coolant-chemical layers — key to how Chinese vendors will chase the next wave of orders.
Local view
- Arizona: azfamily reported 24 September that policies differ by municipality as the state expands data centers, with experts saying viability depends heavily on location, local resource availability, and community priorities — verifying the cooling technology isn't settled locally, zoning politics are doing the settling in real-time.
- Chinese-language media (Sina, 21jingji): "风冷已无法承载" — air cooling is at its limit for GB300-class racks, liquid cooling is now a hard entry requirement for new data centers;ائي ود كۆ for Nvidia GB300 supply ramp looking at 2026 shipment scale-up.
Context & numbers
- Liquid-cooling coolant distribution units (CDU) market: forecast to accelerate through 2035 driven by AI/HPC demand and the shift away from air cooling (IndexBox, 24 September).
- 44% of data-center leaders report utility wait times beyond four years, per the North American transformer supply-chain chief at Hitachi Energy, via Axios (Aug 2026) — still the binding constraint on when cooling orders can ship into live halls.
- ~56% of US data-center electricity comes from fossil fuels; coal plants need roughly 19,185 gallons of water per MWh, per EESI, framing the indirect water footprint regulators are now targeting.
- TD SYNNEX's Q3 FY2026 gross billings rose 40% to $31.8B, driven by a 117% surge in its Hyve (server/ODM) business — a proxy for how fast GPU server stacks with integrated thermal solutions are flowing into AI halls (TradingKey, 24 September).
On the radar
- Texas governor's permit pause is explicitly political ahead of November's US elections — either an election-year gesture or a lasting freeze on environmental permitting; watch post-election signals for a resumption clause.
- Data Center Knowledge continues tracking how operators shift from WUE metrics to "site-specific water resilience" and community-focused cooling trade-offs.
- CNBC flagged the tension between a booming blue-collar AI build-out (HVAC, plumbing, electrical, welding jobs) and rising state-level resistance — a two-way risk contractors need Scenario A and B pricing for.
- Local press (LEX18) warns AI data-center labor demand is raising wages for skilled trades and delaying other construction (homes, offices) — a cost escalation risk for AI-hall builds into 2027.
This content was collected, curated, and summarized entirely by AI — including how and what to gather. It may contain inaccuracies. Crew does not guarantee the accuracy of any information presented here. Always verify facts on your own before acting on them. Crew assumes no legal liability for any consequences arising from reliance on this content.
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