Vertiv announced a major expansion of its Tognana technology campus near Padua, Italy, increasing manufacturing capacity and testing capabilities for large-scale data center cooling systems. The investment will double regional chiller production capacity by the end of 2026 while adding a new integrated testing laboratory scheduled to open in early 2027. The expansion targets growing global demand for thermal infrastructure supporting AI clusters and other high-density computing deployments.
The new testing laboratory will validate the performance of large-scale chillers operating with liquid cooling systems under high-density workloads and extreme environmental conditions. Vertiv said the facility will enable customers to witness full-scale thermal validation before deployment, helping operators verify system performance under expected site conditions while accelerating installation of increasingly complex cooling architectures. The Tognana campus combines research and development, product management, manufacturing, integrated testing, and customer engagement activities, including a Customer Experience Center where operators and consultants can evaluate cooling technologies across the thermal chain.
The investment reflects continued growth in AI infrastructure, where GPU clusters increasingly require advanced thermal management using combinations of liquid cooling, chilled water, and precision air cooling. As rack power densities continue rising well beyond traditional enterprise deployments, hyperscale cloud providers, AI cloud operators, and colocation companies are expanding investments in both liquid cooling and high-capacity chiller systems capable of supporting next-generation AI factories.
• Vertiv expects to double chiller manufacturing capacity at its Tognana, Italy campus by the end of 2026.
• A new large-scale testing laboratory is scheduled to open in early 2027.
• The laboratory will test integrated chiller and liquid cooling systems under high-density AI workloads.
• The facility supports customer witness testing across a range of thermal infrastructure technologies.
• The Tognana campus integrates R&D, manufacturing, product management, testing, and customer engagement.
“AI is driving thermal demands that didn’t exist two years ago, with higher densities, faster deployment demands, and no room to compromise on reliability,” said Gio Albertazzi, CEO of Vertiv. “The expansion at Tognana puts us further ahead with more manufacturing capacity, integrated testing, and advanced thermal management systems built for current and future generations of silicon.”
🌐 Analysis: Cooling infrastructure has become one of the fastest-growing segments of AI data center investment as GPU clusters push rack power densities into the hundreds of kilowatts. Rather than treating chillers, liquid cooling, pumps, heat exchangers, and controls as separate systems, operators increasingly evaluate integrated thermal platforms that can be validated before deployment. Facilities capable of full-scale testing under realistic operating conditions help reduce commissioning risk for increasingly complex AI infrastructure.
Vertiv has steadily expanded its AI-focused portfolio through investments in liquid cooling technologies, modular infrastructure, and partnerships with GPU platform providers including NVIDIA. The latest manufacturing expansion complements similar industry investments by Schneider Electric, Johnson Controls, Trane, Carrier, and CoolIT Systems as thermal infrastructure becomes a critical differentiator for hyperscale AI deployments.
