ECL launches world’s first hydrogen-powered data center, bolstered by $10m funding

ECL, a pioneer in Data Center-as-a-Service (DCaaS), has announced the launch of the world’s first hydrogen-powered data center at MV1 in Mountain View, California. This groundbreaking facility is designed to meet the high power and cooling demands of modern AI technologies, supporting up to 75kw per rack with a power usage effectiveness (PUE) of 1.1.

Alongside this technological milestone, ECL has secured an additional $10 million in funding led by Hyperwise Ventures. This investment will accelerate the company’s research and development efforts and expand its global footprint, emphasizing its commitment to sustainable and scalable data center solutions.

ECL’s facilities are the first in the industry built from the ground up to support the intensive needs of AI infrastructure, optimized for high-density deployments necessary for AI applications. The modular design of these data centers allows for flexibility in location, size, and density, making them ideal for companies engaged in AI development and deployment.

The facility features innovative cooling solutions, including the use of water generated from its hydrogen power sources and proprietary rear door heat exchanger technology. ECL’s data center management system, ECL Lightning™, offers real-time monitoring and control, ensuring optimal performance of AI and other high-intensity workloads.

Cato Digital, a sustainable bare metal cloud provider led by Dean Nelson, is the first customer to utilize this facility. ECL and Cato are also founding members of the iMasons Climate Accord, emphasizing their leadership in sustainable data center operations.

Dean Nelson, a data center industry innovator, highlighted the urgent need for such innovations amidst the rapid AI expansion, which has put a strain on global data center power capacity. “Building more of today’s current data centers won’t solve it. We have to rethink how to deploy dense compute to serve this unprecedented growth,” Nelson stated.

Yuval Bachar, CEO of ECL and a renowned figure in the data center industry, expressed his vision for the facility. “Many data center providers have identified hydrogen as the power source of choice due to its safety, efficiency, and sustainability. ECL is setting a new standard for data centers with a design that meets the future demands of the AI industry,” Bachar explained.