Schneider and Digital Realty: US$373m for Data Centre Demand

Schneider Electric and Digital Realty have signed a US$373m supply capacity agreement (SCA) designed to accelerate the delivery of power infrastructure for new data centre developments. 

The deal was announced at Schneider Electric’s Innovation Summit North America in Las Vegas, where more than 2,500 industry leaders met to discuss energy systems and digital infrastructure.

The agreement focuses on the availability of Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) systems, low voltage switchgear and prefabricated power skids. Digital Realty will use these components across upcoming facilities as it works to meet rapid growth in demand driven by AI and large-scale cloud adoption.

A shift to capacity-secured supply

The two companies have worked together for several years, but the new agreement marks a shift towards a capacity-secured model. Digital Realty will benefit from guaranteed access to key power infrastructure, helping it to plan deployments more predictably during a period of supply chain constraints.

Jeff Tapley, Chief Operating Officer (CPO) at Digital Realty, says: “As demand for digital infrastructure continues to accelerate, securing reliable capacity has become more critical than ever. 

“This agreement with Schneider Electric strengthens our ability to scale with confidence, while maintaining the flexibility and resilience our customers expect. By deepening our collaboration, we're creating a more agile and future-ready supply chain to support the next phase of growth.”

The SCA includes a dedicated production line for low voltage switchgear and economies of scale across Schneider Electric’s standardised power systems. Digital Realty will retain a multi-vendor structure, but will gain more predictable access to equipment required for hyperscale and colocation builds.

Supporting faster delivery of power infrastructure

Schneider Electric said the agreement supports the broader need to deliver data centre capacity more quickly as AI-driven workloads grow. Rising compute density has increased demand for robust power infrastructure, including UPS systems capable of supporting high power racks and prefabricated solutions that shorten deployment timelines.

Vandana Singh, Senior Vice President (SVP) of the Secure Power Division, North America at Schneider Electric, says: “The data centre industry is at a turning point. AI workloads and reindustrialisation are creating fast ramping demand that today's infrastructure cannot meet. 

“In partnership with Digital Realty, we are applying Schneider Electric's energy technology across power solutions, prefabrication, and switchgear to add capacity closer to where it is and build a more resilient supply chain.”

Schneider Electric’s prefabricated skids allow power systems to be assembled and tested off-site before installation. For operators working to tight schedules, prefabrication reduces site work and helps align construction with other stages of facility delivery.

Expanding an existing technical and operational partnership

The new agreement extends a partnership that already spans power distribution, energy management systems and data centre engineering. Both companies have been collaborating on standardisation efforts that reduce the complexity and cost of scaling across multiple regions.

Digital Realty has been expanding its footprint to meet growth in AI, interconnection and cloud services. Ensuring consistent access to critical power infrastructure is one of the main challenges faced by operators building at scale in the US, where supply chains for electrical equipment have remained stretched.

By securing dedicated capacity, Digital Realty aims to reduce lead times for equipment that typically represents one of the longest dependencies in data centre construction. The agreement also supports its strategy of building with repeatable design blocks that can be adapted across campuses.

According to Schneider Electric, extending the collaboration beyond core power solutions into prefabrication and switchgear reflects the requirements of today’s market. As Digital Realty builds for increasingly high-density environments, access to standardised, validated systems is expected to help reduce integration work on individual sites.

A focus on delivery amid rising demand

The agreement centres on practical measures intended to align supply with Digital Realty’s build schedule rather than wider strategic initiatives. Both companies have expressed that the primary goal is to enable power infrastructure to come online more quickly, helping Digital Realty match the pace of customer expansion.

The announcement concludes a year of significant activity for Digital Realty as it scales deployments across North America. The new SCA will support those developments by providing a structured supply framework for the power systems required in its next phase of construction.