Reuse, for lead time as much as for carbon.
On long-lead equipment, refurbished kit is not the cheap option: it is often the only available one.
Reusing data center equipment means returning electrical and cooling assets recovered from dismantled sites to service, after requalification. It mainly concerns long-life, long-lead equipment: transformers, medium-voltage switchgear, low-voltage switchboards, UPS units, standby generators and chillers. The benefit is twofold - a carbon footprint far below new, and availability measured in weeks where new equipment is measured in quarters.
What actually decides it: lead time
Reuse is often presented as an environmental choice. That is true, and it is not what closes deals. What closes deals is that lead times for high-capacity electrical equipment have stretched to the point of becoming the critical path on most projects. A transformer or a high-rating switchboard can be several quarters out.
A refurbished item available from stock changes the structure of the programme: it moves the critical path elsewhere. On fast ramp-up programmes, it is frequently the only way to hold a date.
There is also the question of spares. A heterogeneous estate bought piecemeal becomes hard to maintain. Having stock of the same generation as the installed base keeps things homogeneous, which is often worth more than new equipment from a different family.
What refurbished has to mean
The word guarantees nothing on its own. Between equipment that has been cleaned and re-energised and equipment requalified to a documented protocol, the difference in risk is total - and invisible on delivery.
Our requirement is that anything returned to service is requalified, not merely found to work: systematic replacement of wearing parts, testing appropriate to the type of asset - dielectric for electrical works, leak-tightness and performance for refrigeration machines, discharge for batteries - and certificates added to the file.
It is also what makes a warranty possible. Equipment with an unknown history cannot be warranted; equipment requalified to a protocol can.
Where this expertise applies
The data center packages this expertise covers are shown in full, the others are dimmed. Click a package for detail.
Medium-voltage switchgear distributes and protects; transformers step the voltage down to usable low voltage. These are very long-life assets, where reuse saves several quarters of lead time.
The main low-voltage switchboard distributes power to the halls and the utilities. This is where discrimination is decided: a fault must be cleared as close as possible without tripping anything upstream.
The uninterruptible supply holds the load until the backup starts. We requalify UPS units but always replace batteries with new: their ageing cannot be recovered.
The last line of backup, with its fuel tanks and bunding. A generator only counts once its load acceptance has been tested for real, several times - untested redundancy is a hypothesis.
Chillers and free cooling, producing the chilled water. In the French climate a large share of the year can be covered without compression - provided the loop accepts warm enough water.
Equipment families we handle
We focus on long-life equipment, where reuse makes technical sense and not only economic sense.
- Power transformers
- Passive assets with very long service life. Requalified by dielectric testing and oil analysis where applicable.
- Medium-voltage switchgear
- Switchgear and switching devices, with replacement of operating mechanisms and dielectric testing.
- Main LV switchboards
- Main switchboards and busbars, up to high ratings. Protection devices renewed and full labelling.
- UPS and batteries
- Requalified UPS units. Batteries are replaced with new as a matter of principle: their ageing cannot be recovered.
- Standby generators
- Standby sets with engine overhaul, start-up testing and documented load acceptance testing.
- Chillers
- Refrigeration machines with circuit inspection, leak-tightness, replacement of wearing parts and performance measurement.
- Cable containment and accessories
- Supports, cable containment and accessories, where reuse is straightforward and the carbon impact far from negligible.
From sourcing to commissioning
Five stages, the third being what separates refurbishment from a cosmetic tidy-up.
Requirement
Required characteristics, consistency with the installed base, deadline. We say quickly whether we can hold the date.
Sourcing
Search across our stock and sites currently being decommissioned, including those we dismantle ourselves.
Requalification
Replacement of wearing parts and testing appropriate to the equipment family, with certificates.
Logistics
Packaging, transport and lifting to the installation point. Oversized loads fall under our logistics expertise.
Installation and commissioning
Installation, connection and on-site testing, by the same teams as our new-build work.
Frequently asked questions
Is refurbished equipment warranted?
Yes. The warranty covers equipment requalified to our protocol, and its duration depends on the equipment family and the extent of requalification. We state it in the quotation, together with the testing performed. Equipment we could not warrant is not offered for reuse.
Where does reuse not make sense?
Wherever ageing is irreversible or efficiency is decisive. Batteries are the clearest example: we always replace them with new. As a general rule, the more active, electronic and efficiency-sensitive an item is, the less relevant reuse becomes; the more passive and robust, the more relevant.
What carbon saving does reuse represent?
Most of the footprint of high-capacity electrical equipment sits in its manufacture - metal extraction, processing, transport. Reuse avoids that share, giving a saving an order of magnitude beyond what operational optimisation achieves. We document quantities reused per project rather than quoting a global percentage that cannot be checked.
Can we buy equipment without engaging you for the works?
Yes. We sell refurbished equipment on its own, with its requalification certificates, to operators and to contractors. Installation can be carried out by your own teams or by a third party.
Who are you, exactly?
Three very different people land on these pages. Take the door that fits you.
- You areLooking for capacity in FranceAI operator, hyperscaler or enterprise: you need megawatts, a convertible site and a contractor able to deliver them. We are a contractor on 240 MW at Béthune.Talk capacity and sites
- You areA data center operator or builderYou have works to get done, on a greenfield site or one in service: electrical, cooling, retrofit, decommissioning.Talk about works
- You areThe owner of land or a buildingAn industrial brownfield, a warehouse, a dormant grid connection: we tell you what your site can host, before you commit spend.Have a site qualified