Applied Digital has launched an infrastructure partnership with ABB at the company?s greenfield 400 MW campus in North Dakota, United States. The collaboration will innovate fast, reliable, energy-efficient solutions to meet the needs of rapidly advancing artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities. As part of this long-term partnership, the first orders were booked in Fourth Quarter 2024 and First Quarter 2025.
Central to the partnership is a new medium voltage power architecture using ABB?s HiPerGuard Medium Voltage Static Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS), an industry first technology. HiPerGuard solutions help AI data centers increase power density while compressing electrical plant footprints and increasing energy efficiency. The partnership covers the complete design and development of the site?s electrical infrastructure, optimized to improve the efficiency and resilience of major AI facilities.
Conventional data centers use low voltage power distribution and UPS systems. Switching to medium voltage for the UPS system and power distribution enables data centers to scale more efficiently, expanding in 25 MW blocks. With fewer parts and cabling, installation is simpler and reliability is higher. Running operations with higher voltages, lower conversion losses and less heat generation supports greater energy efficiency.
ABB?s early investment in next-generation medium voltage UPS technology is paying off. Early adopters of ABB's HiPerGuard solution include large-scale data centers and research facilities in North America and Europe that want more energy efficiency and higher power density. With AI?s power densities driving an overhaul of power architectures, ABB?s medium voltage UPS solution is unlocking a more efficient future for data centers.
