Sources and method

What this reference is

This site is a set of generic reference designs for data-centre power, cooling, controls and operations. It is written for owners, operators and engineers at the early design stage, when the questions are about structure and order of magnitude rather than final values.

It is not a design for any specific site. Every real project starts from its own load, grid connection, climate, insurer and rules. The values here are starting points to be checked against those.

How the designs were made generic

The designs come from patterns seen in real data-centre work and in public technical literature. Before anything was published, each design was rewritten as a generic pattern:

• No names of sites, owners, operators, clients or places.
• No equipment tags, room layouts or drawing numbers from any project.
• No pairing of a named product with a project quantity. Ratings are rounded to typical values.
• Equipment that a design needs but that was not part of the pattern, such as transformers, medium-voltage switchgear and transfer switches, is drawn as the generic choice and said to be so.

A publish check runs before every release. It refuses the site if any published file contains a term from a private list, in any common spelling; if a published file is identical to a private source file; if a page loads a script, stylesheet, image or frame from another host; or if a link or anchor inside the site is broken.

How the sources were checked

The research behind the pages was done as a structured review in six areas: power architecture, load dynamics and backup power, liquid cooling and heat reuse, controls and operations, Norwegian rules, and a sweep of public surveys and industry reports. The reading was AI-assisted. Grades are set by the reviewer; scripts cap them and check the rest.

• Saved copies. Every source a claim cites was saved as text when it was read. Claims are checked against that saved copy, not against a later visit. Sources read during the counter-search are summarised in the research log.
• Exact quotes. Every claim rests on at least one span quoted word for word from a saved copy. A script confirms each span is present. Claims whose quote could not be confirmed were dropped.
• Independence. Corroboration is counted by web origin, not by link. Where one source was found to restate another, the two count as one origin.
• Certainty. Each claim is graded strong, moderate, weak or contested. A single-origin claim is capped at weak unless its source is a normative text, an official advisory or a measured dataset. Two sources that disagree without a resolution make both contested.
• A search against each finding. For every claim a sourced design position depends on, at least one search was made for evidence against it, and recorded even when it found nothing. Positions marked as design choices are engineering practice and were not searched this way.

Standards, laws and regulations are cited at the edition that was read. Many standards are sold rather than published, so some are cited through the standards body's own summary or a public extract. Read the edition that applies to your project before relying on a value.

Kinds of source

Limits

• A quote check proves that a span is in the saved copy. It does not prove the source is right, or that the span means what the page says in every context.
• Some sources could not be read in full because they were paywalled, blocked or available only as a summary. Where that weakens a claim, the page says so or the claim was left out.
• The field moves quickly. Rack densities, cooling temperatures and DC power distribution for AI halls are changing year by year. Each source shows its publication date where it has one, and the date it was read.
• Norwegian rules change too. The page on designing in Norway cites the text that was in force when it was read.

Every source cited on this site

In order of research area. Each page also lists its own sources at the end.

1. NVIDIA 800 VDC Architecture Will Power the Next Generation of AI Factories. NVIDIA Developer Blog, 2025-05-20. Read 2026-10-18.https://developer.nvidia.com/blog/nvidia-800-v-hvdc-architecture-will-power-the-next-generation-of-ai-factories/
2. Lenovo NVIDIA GB300 NVL72 Rack Scale AI Product Guide. Lenovo Press, 2026-08-30. Read 2026-10-18.https://lenovopress.lenovo.com/lp2357-lenovo-nvidia-gb300-nvl72-rack-scale-ai
3. Nvidia's Vera Rubin CPU, GPUs chart course for 600kW racks. The Register, 2025-03-19. Read 2026-10-18.https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/19/nvidia_charts_course_for_600kw/
4. NVIDIA Kyber. Glenn K. Lockwood (personal site), 2026-04-02. Read 2026-10-18.https://www.glennklockwood.com/garden/kyber
5. Enabling 1 MW IT racks and liquid cooling at OCP EMEA Summit. Google Cloud, 2025-04-30. Read 2026-10-18.https://cloud.google.com/blog/topics/systems/enabling-1-mw-it-racks-and-liquid-cooling-at-ocp-emea-summit
6. Tiers (Uptime Institute tier classification summary). Uptime Institute. Read 2026-10-18.https://uptimeinstitute.com/tiers
7. Review of standardisation activities: Energy Management and Environmental Viability of Data Centres (executive summary of the 8th-edition report). CEN/CENELEC/ETSI Coordination Group on Green Data Centres, 2021-10-06. Read 2026-10-18.https://www.cencenelec.eu/media/CEN-CENELEC/AreasOfWork/CEN%20sectors/Digital%20Society/Green%20Data%20Centres/brochuredatacentrestandardizationedition8_2021.pdf
8. UPS & Energy Storage: From Ride-Through to Transient Absorption. The Definitive Guide to AI Data Centers (aidatacenterguide.com). Read 2026-10-18.https://aidatacenterguide.com/part-4-electrical-and-energy-infrastructure/4-5-ups-and-energy-storage-from-ride-through-to-transient-absorption
9. Redundant Data Center Power for AI: Why It's Non-Negotiable. Hanwha Data Centers, 2026-03-20. Read 2026-10-18.https://www.hanwhadatacenters.com/blog/redundant-data-center-power-for-ai-why-its-non-negotiable/
10. The 800 VDC decision: A practical guide for AI power architecture. Vertiv, 2026-09-14. Read 2026-10-18.https://www.vertiv.com/en-us/insights/articles/educational-articles/the-800-vdc-decision-a-practical-guide-for-ai-power-architecture/
11. Power Stabilization for AI Training Datacenters. arXiv (preprint), 2025-08-21. Read 2026-10-18.https://arxiv.org/html/2508.14318
12. Characteristics and Risks of Emerging Large Loads: Large Loads Task Force White Paper. North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), 2025-07. Read 2026-10-18.https://www.nerc.com/globalassets/who-we-are/standing-committees/rstc/whitepaper-characteristics-and-risks-of-emerging-large-loads.pdf
13. Operational Risks in Grid Integration of Large Data Center Loads: Characteristics, Stability Assessments, and Sensitivity Studies. arXiv (preprint), 2025-10-24. Read 2026-10-18.https://arxiv.org/html/2510.05437v2
14. A Pre-Dispatch Resonance Safety Criterion for AI Training Clusters. arXiv (preprint), 2026-06-20. Read 2026-10-18.https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.22096
15. Grid Integration of AI Data Centers: A Critical Review of Energy Storage Solutions. arXiv (preprint, review), 2026-02-28. Read 2026-10-18.https://arxiv.org/html/2603.00415v1
16. ISO 8528-5 and Generator Transient Performance (Kohler Energy, Power Systems Topics 143). Kohler Energy, 2024-06. Read 2026-10-18.https://techcomm.kohler.com/techcomm/pdf/ISO%208528-5%20and%20Generator%20Transient%20Performance_WP.pdf
17. Cummins high-horsepower diesel generator sets approved for use with HVO. biobased-diesel.com, 2021-12-10. Read 2026-10-18.https://www.biobased-diesel.com/post/cummins-high-horsepower-diesel-generator-sets-approved-for-use-with-hvo
18. Emergence and Expansion of Liquid Cooling in Mainstream Data Centers. ASHRAE Technical Committee 9.9 (ASHRAE), 2021. Read 2026-10-18.https://www.ashrae.org/file%20library/technical%20resources/bookstore/emergence-and-expansion-of-liquid-cooling-in-mainstream-data-centers_wp.pdf
19. Liquid to Liquid CDU Test Methodology and Performance Rating. Open Compute Project, 2024-08. Read 2026-10-18.https://www.opencompute.org/documents/ocp-wp-l-lcdu-test-methodology-performance-rating-r1-pdf
20. District heating from data centre waste heat, Mäntsälä (Sitra case, archived). Sitra (Finnish Innovation Fund), archive, 2019-10-18. Read 2026-10-18.https://arkisto.sitra.fi/en/cases/district-heating-from-data-centre-waste-heat-mantsala/
21. Directive (EU) 2023/1791 on energy efficiency (recast). Publications Office of the European Union (EUR-Lex), 2023. Read 2026-10-18.https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32023L1791
22. The data centre industry - a sustainable industry of the future for the digital Norway (chapter 5). Norwegian Government (regjeringen.no). Read 2026-10-18.https://www.regjeringen.no/en/documents/the-data-centre-industry-a-sustainable-industry-of-the-future-for-the-digital-norway/id3112356/?ch=5
23. Future views on waste heat utilization – Case of data centers in Northern Europe. Elsevier, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews (indexed on IDEAS/RePEc), 2018. Read 2026-10-18.https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/rensus/v82y2018ip2p1749-1764.html
24. A material social view on data center waste heat: Novel uses and metrics. Frontiers in Sustainability (Frontiers Media), 2023-01-25. Read 2026-10-18.https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/sustainability/articles/10.3389/frsus.2022.1008583/full
25. Hotter Than a Hot Tub: The 45°C Breakthrough to Cool AI’s Biggest Machines. NVIDIA, 2026-06-21. Read 2026-10-18.https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/liquid-cooling-ai-factories/
26. Direct Liquid Cooling System Challenges in Data Centers (White Paper 210, Version 1). Schneider Electric. Read 2026-10-18.https://media.datacenterdynamics.com/media/documents/WP210_V1_EN.pdf
27. Directive (EU) 2022/2555 (NIS 2) on EUR-Lex. EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the European Union). Read 2026-10-18.https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2022/2555/oj/eng
28. Uptime Announces Annual Outage Analysis Report 2025. Uptime Institute, 2025-05-06. Read 2026-10-18.https://uptimeinstitute.com/about-ui/press-releases/uptime-announces-annual-outage-analysis-report-2025
29. ISA/IEC 62443 Series of Standards. ISA (International Society of Automation). Read 2026-10-18.https://www.isa.org/standards-and-publications/isa-standards/isa-iec-62443-series-of-standards
30. NFPA 70B changing from guideline to standard. HFM Magazine, 2022-12-16. Read 2026-10-18.https://www.hfmmagazine.com/articles/4635-nfpa-70b-changes-from-a-guideline-to-a-standard
31. NFPA 70B Compliance: What Changed and When It Actually Applies. Reliable Media (Reliamag). Read 2026-10-18.https://reliamag.com/guides/nfpa-70b-compliance/
32. Data center commissioning levels and process field guide. Anvilfield, 2026-06-27. Read 2026-10-18.https://anvilfield.com/field-guides/datacenter/data-center-commissioning-levels-process/
33. BMS Data Center Integration: The Essential Checklist for Construction Success. Proconex, 2026-08-03. Read 2026-10-18.https://www.proconexdirect.com/blog/2026/bms-data-center-integration-the-essential-checklist-for-construction-success/
34. ISO/IEC 22237 & EN 50600: Data Centre Design Standard. GreenCalculus, 2026-06-19. Read 2026-10-18.https://www.greencalculus.com/standards/iso-iec-22237-en-50600-data-centre-design/
35. OPC Unified Architecture (OPC UA). OPC Foundation. Read 2026-10-18.https://opcfoundation.org/about/opc-technologies/opc-ua/
36. IEC 61850 (Wikipedia). Wikipedia, 2026-08-23. Read 2026-10-18.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEC_61850
37. High-availability Seamless Redundancy (Wikipedia). Wikipedia, 2026-09-01. Read 2026-10-18.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-availability_Seamless_Redundancy
38. Applying ISO/IEC 27001, ISO/IEC 27002 and the ISA/IEC 62443 Series for Operational Technology Environments. ISA Global Cybersecurity Alliance, 2025-06. Read 2026-10-18.https://www.isa.org/getmedia/12ce5956-3047-4820-899c-5158722039d9/ISAGCA_Applying-ISO-IEC-27001-2-and-the-62443-Series_White-Paper_2025.pdf
39. Forskrift om datasenter (FOR-2024-12-18-3313). Lovdata, 2024-12-18. Read 2026-10-18.https://lovdata.no/nav/forskrift/2024-12-18-3313
40. Innst. 140 S (2025–2026), Dokument 8:60 S (2025–2026): konsesjonsordning for etablering av datasentre. Stortinget, energi- og miljøkomiteen, 2026-02-24. Read 2026-10-18.https://www.stortinget.no/globalassets/pdf/innstillinger/stortinget/2025-2026/inns-202526-140s.pdf
41. Energiloven (LOV-1990-06-29-50). Lovdata. Read 2026-10-18.https://lovdata.no/dokument/NL/lov/1990-06-29-50
42. Høring av forslag til endringer i energiloven om utnyttelse av overskuddsvarme. Regjeringen (Energidepartementet), 2025-09-04. Read 2026-10-18.https://www.regjeringen.no/no/dokumenter/horing-av-forslag-til-endringer-i-energiloven-om-utnyttelse-av-overskuddsvarme/id3117745/
43. Kost-nytteanalyse av overskuddsvarme: § 4 Plikt til å gjennomføre kost-nytteanalyser. NVE, 2025-03-27. Read 2026-10-18.https://veiledere.nve.no/kost-nytteanalyse-av-overskuddsvarme/kapittel-2-plikt-til-a-gjennomfore-kost-nytteanalyse/4-plikt-til-a-gjennomfore-kost-nytteanalyser/
44. Forskrift om kost-nytteanalyse av mulighetene for å utnytte overskuddsvarme (FOR-2024-09-25-2263). Lovdata, 2024-09-25. Read 2026-10-18.https://lovdata.no/dokument/SF/forskrift/2024-09-25-2263
45. Overgangsregler for NEK 400. DSB (Direktoratet for samfunnssikkerhet og beredskap). Read 2026-10-18.https://www.dsb.no/elsikkerhet/elektriske-anlegg-og-utstyr/overgangsregler-for-nek-400/
46. Forskrift om elektriske lavspenningsanlegg (FEL), FOR-1998-11-06-1060. Lovdata. Read 2026-10-18.https://lovdata.no/dokument/SF/forskrift/1998-11-06-1060
47. Forskrift om elektriske forsyningsanlegg med veiledning (FEF). DSB. Read 2026-10-18.https://www.dsb.no/elsikkerhet/elektriske-forsyningsanlegg/veiledning-til-forskrift-om-elektriske-forsyningsanlegg/
48. Dokument 8:105 S (2025–2026): letter from Finansdepartementet on a representative proposal for higher electricity tax on data centres. Finansdepartementet, 2026-02-19. Read 2026-10-18.https://www.stortinget.no/globalassets/pdf/innstillinger/stortinget/2025-2026/inns-202526-183s-vedlegg.pdf
49. NVE har samlet informasjon om datasentre. NVE, 2026-08-12. Read 2026-10-18.https://www.nve.no/nytt-fra-nve/nyheter-energi/nve-har-samlet-informasjon-om-datasentre
50. Endringer i energiloven (utnyttelse av overskuddsvarme og krav til automatiske styringssystemer), Innst. 277 L (2025–2026). Stortinget, 2026-06-19. Read 2026-10-18.https://www.stortinget.no/no/Saker-og-publikasjoner/Saker/Sak/?p=200132
51. Energieffektiviseringsdirektivet (2023). europalov.no, 2026-04-17. Read 2026-10-18.https://europalov.no/rettsakt/energieffektiviseringsdirektivet-2023/id-29284
52. Endringer i energiloven og datasenterforskriften: hva betyr dette for datasenterbransjen. CMS Norway (law firm), 2026-07-27. Read 2026-10-18.https://cms.law/no/nor/publikasjon/endringer-i-energiloven-og-datasenterforskriften-hva-betyr-dette-for-datasenterbransjen
53. Essential Action to Industry: Computational Load Modeling, Studies, Instrumentation, Commissioning, Operations, Protection, and Control. North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), 2026-05-04. Read 2026-10-18.https://www.nerc.com/globalassets/programs/bpsa/alerts/level-3-computational-load-alert.pdf
54. Why Scaling AI Compute Performance Requires a New Power Architecture. NVIDIA, 2026-08-11. Read 2026-10-18.https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/800-vdc-power-architecture-ai-factory/
55. Powering the Next Era of AI: How Google, Microsoft and Nvidia Are Standardizing and Accelerating the Industry Transition to LVDC. Open Compute Project Foundation, 2026-08-11. Read 2026-10-18.https://www.opencompute.org/news/powering-the-next-era-of-ai-how-google-microsoft-and-nvidia-are-standardizing-and-accelerating-the-industry-transition-to-lvdc/
56. Ofte stilte spørsmål om datasenterregistrering. Nasjonal kommunikasjonsmyndighet (Nkom). Read 2026-10-18.https://nkom.no/datasenter/registrering-ofte-stilte-sporsmal
57. Kost-nytteanalyse av mulighetene for å utnytte overskuddsvarme. NVE. Read 2026-10-18.https://www.nve.no/energi/virkemidler/kost-nytteanalyse-av-mulighetene-for-aa-utnytte-overskuddsvarme/
58. Svarbrev til RME om tilknytningsplikt nord for Svartisen. Statnett, 2026-06-15. Read 2026-10-18.https://www.statnett.no/globalassets/for-aktorer-i-kraftsystemet/nyheter-for-aktorer-i-kraftbransjen/svarbrev-rme---tilknytningsplikt-nord-for-svartisen-15.06.2026.pdf
59. Statnett har oppdatert tilknytningsprosessen. Statnett. Read 2026-10-18.https://www.statnett.no/for-aktorer-i-kraftbransjen/nyhetsarkiv/statnett-har-oppdatert-tilknytningsprosessen/