How XDS Datacentres Cools Its Chips in Saudi Arabia

XDS Datacentres Chief Strategy Officer Ikaraam Ullah discussed cooling data centers in Saudi Arabia, regional Gulf tensions and their impact on operators, and retrofitting facilities to address power and water use in the UK and elsewhere in Europe. The interview took place at the BloombergNEF Summit London on Oct. 20, 2026; no financial figures or specific market effects were reported.

Analysis

The investable issue is the trade-off between water use, electricity demand and cooling reliability—not cooling technology in isolation. In arid climates, reducing water dependence can shift the burden toward power consumption or higher-cost equipment; in Europe, retrofits may improve asset efficiency, but savings are not assured if higher compute density absorbs the freed capacity. That creates a potential second-order benefit for data-center power and thermal-management suppliers, including Vertiv, Schneider Electric and Eaton, conditional on measurable retrofit orders rather than conference commentary.

Gulf tensions add a separate underwriting channel: operators may face higher requirements for backup power, spare parts, network redundancy and insurance. Those costs could favor larger, better-capitalized operators while weakening the economics of marginal projects. The interview supplies no deployment, contract or operating data, so it does not establish a near-term earnings revision.

Over days, likely limited security-level signal. Over 1–3 months, watch for operator capex guidance, supplier order commentary and project delays or insurance changes. Over 6–18 months, water and power constraints could influence site selection and retrofit demand. Contrarian risk: efficiency gains may be overstated if dry cooling raises power needs or AI workloads quickly consume capacity. Falsify the supplier thesis if orders or guidance fail to improve; falsify the retrofit case if reported power and water intensity do not decline.

Key Decisions for Investors

• No immediate trade: the source is an interview without quantified adoption, contracts or cost savings. Treat it as a monitoring signal, not an earnings catalyst.
• Watch Vertiv, Schneider Electric and Eaton for data-center cooling, electrical-equipment order growth and guidance attribution; consider exposure only if company disclosures corroborate sustained demand.
• Track operator disclosures on power usage effectiveness, water usage effectiveness, retrofit paybacks, backup-power spending and Gulf project timelines. These are the missing data needed to distinguish real economics from positioning.
• Reassess the thesis if cooling retrofits reduce water use but raise electricity intensity materially, or if Gulf-related insurance, project delays or redundancy costs undermine returns.