Equinix and Schneider pilot software-defined switchgear at an undisclosed data center

Equinix and Schneider Electric have deployed software-defined medium-voltage switchgear at an undisclosed Equinix colocation site, a pilot that moves control intelligence out of engineered-to-order equipment and into software so features arrive as configuration changes rather than physical modifications, the gear becoming something closer to a standardized module. The companies say the design cuts the specialized cabling and hardware in a data hall and shortens the time it takes to energize one, but it does nothing for the timeline on the other side of the meter.

Schneider puts the parts count at 87 percent less control wiring, 91 percent fewer terminals and 85 percent less copper in that wiring, with digital connectivity and analytics added for operational visibility. What disappears matters more than what remains: terminals, copper and control wiring are the components electricians install and test on site, the labor and inspection between a delivered switchgear line-up and a commissioned one, and standardization, Schneider says, also shortens order, manufacturing and commissioning times and makes the system less complicated.

Frédéric Godemel, Schneider's executive vice president for energy management, frames the challenge as broader than AI growth. Operators need resilient, efficient and scalable power infrastructure, he argues, and combining software, connectivity and standardization lets them scale more efficiently while preparing for future requirements.

Schneider made the same argument on September 16 with its factory-built 2.5MW power modules, which compress what was already the most controllable part of the data center timeline and leave the interconnection queue exactly where it was. The switchgear pilot works one layer further downstream, on the medium-voltage gear inside the electrical room, and lands in the same place: grid capacity, tariffs and load rules decide whether a site can be built at all, so a faster electrical room does not move a project up a queue.

The parallel to Bloom Energy's Power Connect is close: a factory-built power platform that moves wiring and testing off the job site, with Oracle, Equinix and American Electric Power already lined up as customers. Both products sell schedule inside the fence, while the interconnection remains outside their scope and the binding constraint on this buildout sits on the other side of the meter.

Pilots continue next year and Schneider puts broader availability in 2028, a date that sits beyond much of the capacity being committed now. That makes the near-term value an option on a cheaper build rather than a change to current construction schedules. One undisclosed site is a trial, not a standard; the gap to 2028 is where the economics get decided.