Motivair by Schneider Electric announces new range of CDUs

Motivair by Schneider Electric has introduced two new Coolant Distribution Units (CDUs) that are engineered to meet the rising thermal demands of HPC and AI workloads. These new models are the company’s first purpose-built CDUs for optimized installation in utility corridors, offering data center operators enhanced flexibility, performance, and integration across a wider range of deployments. 

The new CDUs, the MCDU-45 and MCDU-55, are now available globally, with production ramping up in early 2026. Both provide wider cooling capacities, features, and design conditions, allowing operators to leverage a wider range of chilled water temperatures to optimize deployment and operations. With the addition of these new CDUs to its end-to-end liquid cooling portfolio, Motivair by Schneider Electric offers additional floor mounted CDUs and in-rack units, tailored to enable enhanced cooling strategies for hyperscale, AI, colocation, edge, and retrofit environments.   

Key Benefits of the MCDU-45 and MCDU-55

The new CDUs are designed to reflect the evolution of liquid cooling and match changing infrastructure deployments for the AI era. Customers are increasingly deploying CDUs in areas outside of the white space.

Having a full range of CDU deployment options allows operators to tailor cooling strategies to their specific AI infrastructure, data center design, and workload demands to achieve optimal thermal performance and operational resilience as compute densities continue to rise. The key benefits of the MCDU-45 and MCDU-55 include:

• Space Optimization and Flexibility: With new and existing CDU options, operators have greater flexibility to choose the right model that meets their specific deployment goals.   

• Energy Savings: CDUs feature wider operating ranges, enabling heat rejection systems to unlock energy efficiency and improve PUE.

• Simplified Maintenance and Accessibility: Diverse placement of CDUs improves flexibility for service access without disrupting AI workload or IT operations.  

• Enhanced Integration with Chiller Plants: The full range of CDUs (MCDU-25 through MCDU60 models) supports advanced thermal management strategies with precise flow control, real-time monitoring, and adaptive load balancing for optimized plant performance and reduced energy consumption.  

“When it comes to data center liquid cooling, flexibility is the key with customers demanding a more diverse and larger portfolio of end-to-end solutions,” said Andrew Bradner, Senior Vice President, Cooling Business at Schneider Electric. “Our new CDUs, announced today, allow customers to match deployment strategies to a wider range of accelerated computing applications while leveraging decades of specialized cooling experience to ensure optimal performance, reliability, and future-readiness.”

Backed by Proven Expertise and Global Reach 

The Motivair by Schneider Electric CDUs are the first new products that have been unveiled since Schneider Electric’s acquisition of Motivair in February 2025. Necessitated by the exponential growth of AI applications, particularly in HPC, AI Factory and data center environments, the CDUs are designed to meet the explosive demand of high-density computing with efficient and scalable liquid cooling solutions. 

“Motivair is a trusted partner for advanced liquid cooling solutions, and our new range of technologies enables data center operators to navigate the AI era with confidence,” said Rich Whitmore, CEO of Motivair. “Together with Schneider Electric, our goal is to deliver next-generation cooling solutions that adapt to any HPC, AI or advanced data center deployment to deliver seamless scalability, performance, and reliability when it matters most.”