Build closed-loop cooling with no evaporative make-up, and publish the energy penalty it costs

#00218

Fill the cooling loop once and reject heat mechanically instead of by evaporation, eliminating ongoing water draw. Microsoft claims this avoids over 125 million litres per facility per year. The trade is electricity, and no operator has published the PUE penalty.

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Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin, USA (Microsoft zero-water evaporation pilot)

Ongoing

Microsoft · since 2024 · City

Microsoft announced its closed-loop, zero-water-evaporation datacentre design in December 2024, naming Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin and Phoenix, Arizona as the first sites, with further builds coming online from late 2027.…

Claimed water avoided per facility>125,000,000litres per year

Microsoft fleet WUE0.27 (FY2025)L/kWh

Microsoft · 3 sources

Canelones, Uruguay

Partial

Google, with Uruguay's Ministry of Environment · 2023–2024 · City

Google's original Canelones facility design required approximately 7.6 million litres of potable water per day for evaporative cooling. During Uruguay's 2023 drought, Montevideo's utility blended brackish estuary water…

Potable water draw in original design7600000litres per day

Potable water draw in approved air-cooled design7600000 → 0litres per day

2 sources

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