Step 1 · Plan

Build your multi-year plan

Site, grid, costs, revenue and returns in one case.

Project Data centre, Frankfurt Frankfurt, 20 MW, 2 phases

Example values. Change any of them and they become your project, kept in this browser. Create a free account to keep it

Design

2 of 7

Liquid-cooled share of IT load

Air-cooled rack density

kW/rack

Storeys

Design PUE, annual

Average IT load

% of capacity

Gross floor area

m²

Site area

Heat rejection

Air cooling units

UPS batteries

Air management

Contained aisles Open hall

Cabinets and rack power strips

Customers bring their own Operator supplies

Space ratios

Ancillary space

% of technical

Data hall size

Halls per building

Your design against the reference build

Your design against the reference build
Measure	Index	This design
Construction cost per MW	100	Premium against Premium
Annual PUE	100	1.20 against 1.20
Gross floor area	100	16,710 m² against 16,710 m²
Grid connection	100	30.7 against 30.7 MVA
Racks	100	2,500 against 2,500

Reference = 100: the same IT load in this market and climate with N+1 power and cooling, 2N distribution, room CRAHs, air-cooled chillers with free cooling, 8 kW racks, lead-acid UPS batteries, one storey. Below 100 is less cost, energy or space.

Campus plan: 20.0 MW in one building, 4 halls

Campus plan: 20.0 MW in one building, 4 halls
Block	Halls	IT	Floor area	Generators	UPS modules	Transformers	Chillers
Building 1phase 1 and 2	4 × 5.0 MW	20.0 MW	16,710 m²	14	20	24	24

Each hall is its own electrical block (UPS and MV/LV transformers, N+1 and 2N); each pair of halls has its own generator group (N+1); each building has its own chillers (N+1), and the phase that opens a building builds its shell. Change the hall size and halls per building under Space ratios in the Design step.

What each phase installs

What each phase installs
Phase	IT added	Halls	Generators	UPS modules	Transformers	Chillers	Connection, to date	Diesel added
Phase 1opens a building	10.0 MW	2	7	10	12	13	15 MVA	154 m³
Phase 2	10.0 MW	2	7	10	12	11	31 MVA	154 m³

Each building’s plant is sized on the halls open once the phase is built; the redundant units come with the first halls, so a phase that opens a building installs more per MW than one that fills it.

Land budget

Land budget
Part	Area	Share	Basis
Buildings	16,710 m²	41%	1 storey
Generator yard	1,400 m²	3%	14 sets × 100 m²
Fuel yard	310 m²	1%	308 m³ of diesel
Heat rejection yard	1,440 m²	3%	24 MW of chillers
Roads round the buildings	3,820 m²	9%	7 m road round each building
Customer substation	6,000 m²	15%	High voltage, 110/132 kV
Parking	480 m²	1%	Half the staff plus ten visitors
Perimeter strip	7,350 m²	18%	10 m strip
Landscaping	3,750 m²	9%	10% of the hardstanding
Land the campus needs	4.12 ha	100%	Plot ratio 0.41

Enter your plot as Site area in the Design step to check what fits.

Accommodation schedule

Accommodation schedule
Space	Area	Basis
White space, air-cooled	7,330 m²	2,500 racks
Electrical plantUPS, switch rooms, transformer and generator yards	5,430 m²	N+1 UPS
Mechanical rooms	2,430 m²	N+1 cooling
Ancillaryoffices, NOC, loading, meet-me rooms	1,520 m²	10% of technical
Gross floor area	16,710 m²	0.84 m² per kW
Customer substation plot	6,000 m²	High voltage, 110/132 kV, outdoors
Building footprint	16,710 m²	1 storey
Site area	4.12 ha	The land budget, plot ratio 0.41

Power schedule

Power schedule
Item	Quantity	Basis
IT capacity	20.0 MW	The brief
Facility load, annual average	14.4 MW	PUE 1.20 at 60% load
Facility peak	29.2 MW	Design-day PUE 1.46
Grid connection	30.7 MVA	Peak ÷ power factor 0.95, design-day PUE 1.46
Connection voltage	High voltage, 110/132 kV	About 20–150 MVA
Grid transformers	2 × 40 MVA	N+1, in the customer substation
Connection needed as phases open	phase 1: 15 MVA; phase 2: 31 MVA	Capacity to reserve or stage with the network operator
MV/LV transformers	24 × 3.15 MVA	2N per hall
Standby generators	14 × 2.5 MW	N+1 per group of 2 halls, on their facility peak
Diesel stored on site	308 m³	48 hours at the facility peak
Generator thermal input	88 MWth	50 MWth or more on the site: an industrial emissions permit is likely where the country aggregates units; each set is a medium combustion plant
UPS modules	20 × 1.25 MW	N+1 per hall, Lead-acid (VRLA)
Chillers or dry coolers	24 × 1.0 MW	N+1 per building, on its heat load
HV/MV switchgear	Outdoor compound	Above 5 MW

Peak load is the design day with every chiller on compressors (coefficient of performance 3 for this heat rejection); generators and the connection are sized on it, against an annual PUE of 1.20. Unit ratings follow the hall: generators of 2.5 MW for halls of 5 MW or less and 3.0 MW above, chillers of 1.0 MW at this hall size; 1.25 MW UPS modules, 3.15 MVA transformers; grid transformers of 40, 63 or 100 MVA. Voltage bands are typical European connection practice; the network operator sets the actual voltage. Change the redundancy in the Operating standard step.

Cooling schedule

Cooling schedule
Item	Value	Basis
Heat to air	22.8 MW	Room CRAHs, N+1
Heat to liquid	0.0 MW	None in the brief
Heat rejection	Air-cooled chillers, free cooling	N+1
Hours a year without compressors (air)	6,580 h	Hourly climate 2016-2025
Design dry-bulb (1%)	30.5 °C	Hottest year on record 39.7 °C
Design PUE, annual	1.20	Estimate from climate and topology

PUE estimate: electrical losses 0.05, fans and pumps 0.06, compressors 0.071, lighting and other 0.02. The compressor share follows the hours above the free-cooling limit.

Market rules: Germany, Energy Efficiency Act s.11

Market rules: Germany, Energy Efficiency Act s.11
Rule	This design	Basis
PUE at most 1.2 within two years of opening	1.20	Meets it
Reused heat: 10% from opening, 15% from July 2027, 20% from July 2028	No heat export	Fails unless an off-taker refuses an offer
Renewable electricity 100% from 2027 (draft amendment: 2030)	100%	Meets it

Thresholds for data centres opening from 1 July 2026; the June 2026 amendment is not yet law.

Reference data for the site and the grid

Live and monthly grid data, the power plant map, siting costs, market comparison and fibre latency, each with its sources and dates.