Power and cooling firm Vertiv has partnered with power equipment manufacturer Caterpillar to develop advanced energy optimization solutions for data centers.

The companies signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding that will integrate Vertiv's power distribution and cooling portfolio with Caterpillar's and its natural gas turbine subsidiary Solar Turbines’ products and expertise in power generation. This, the companies claim, will support the delivery of pre-designed architectures that simplify deployment, accelerate time-to-power, and optimize performance for data center operations.

As part of the collaboration, Caterpillar and Solar Turbines will supply power generation solutions, including natural gas turbines and reciprocating engines, and Vertiv will provide a complete portfolio of power and cooling solutions and services, supplied as modular blocks to shorten design cycles. The partnership will focus predominantly on on-site energy solutions.

"This collaboration with Caterpillar and Solar Turbines is a cornerstone of our Bring Your Own Power & Cooling (BYOP&C) strategy and aligns seamlessly with our grid-to-chip framework by offering resilient, on-site power generation solutions. This is optimal for customers looking to reduce or eliminate grid dependence," said Gio Albertazzi, CEO, at Vertiv. "By combining our complementary technologies, portfolios, and expertise, we are enabling coordinated integration. Our pre-engineered, interoperability-tested building blocks let customers execute design, build, and deploy concurrently, with predictable system performance."

According to the companies, the partnership will have a range of advantages for the data center sector. Namely, accelerating time to power through the use of modular reference architectures, supporting a lower PUE, and global lifecycle support for customers using the products.

"As AI-driven workloads continue to accelerate, the demand for robust and scalable power infrastructure and cooling is becoming increasingly critical," said Jason Kaiser, group president of Caterpillar Power & Energy. "Our collaboration with Vertiv will enable us to deliver integrated, on-site energy solutions that lower PUE and meet customers' evolving needs."

Caterpillar has increasingly targeted the data center sector over recent years, especially as more developers seek off-grid solutions to expedite their route to market. In August, the company partnered with US power infrastructure developer Hunt Energy to deliver upwards of 1GW of generation capacity for data centers in North America. The first project is expected to launch in Texas.

Vertiv is one of the biggest names in the data center critical infrastructure sector. The company, which produces power, cooling, and racks for the sector, saw its revenues jump by 29 percent year-over-year to $2.6 billion in October, with a 43 percent growth in the Americas and 20 percent growth in APAC.