SPIE supports the development of an eco-efficient data centre for the DNSCE in Toulouse

Saint-Ouen, 5 May 2026 – SPIE Building Solutions, a French subsidiary of SPIE, the independent European leader in multi-technical services in the areas of energy and communications, will apply its climate and electrical engineering expertise to a data centre transformation project for the Direction Nationale des Statistiques du Commerce Extérieur (French Directorate of Foreign Trade Statistics, "DNSCE") in Toulouse, which is part of the French Directorate-General of Customs. This transformation is expected to be completed in 2027.

A transformation centred on energy efficiency

With research indicating that data centres may represent up to 13% of global electricity consumption by 2030¹, SPIE Building Solutions, a subsidiary of SPIE France with specialist knowledge dedicated to building intelligence and performance, will draw on its climate and electrical engineering expertise to develop a new-generation, eco-efficient data centre. The project is aiming high in terms of energy performance, targeting a PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness) of less than 1.33 at 80% capacity, i.e. when the data centre is working at 80% of its maximum capacity, it consumes a total of 1.33 kWh of energy for every kilowatt hour used by the IT equipment. This would make the data centre one of the most efficient of its kind in France.

Employing 212 agents, the DNSCE is a French national customs service that has three key missions: compiling foreign trade statistics, operating both an IT centre and a data centre. Its work has undergone a profound digital transformation in recent years. Back in the 1980s, the service would process customs declarations manually, now customs officers and companies alike are able to make use of a comprehensive online service. Today, the DNSCE serves as an example of responsible digital infrastructure. Expanding its hosting capacity will enable it to offer modern, secure services that meet the highest environmental standards to teams from the Ministry of Finance and other ministries.

This data centre transformation project is drawing on the expertise of SPIE Building Solutions and is based on a comprehensive environmental strategy:

• Optimisation of temperature regimes to minimise the need for cooling;
• An active reuse policy specifying that existing equipment, including a cooling unit and technical connections on electrical cabinets in particular, be reused;
• Design that favours technical solutions with a lower carbon footprint;
• Responsible waste management;
• Highly energy-efficient, new-generation cooling technology.

The technical solutions implemented by SPIE Building Solutions include:

• A redundant electricity supply system comprising paths A and B. This system ensures that the data centre remains operational in the event that one of the power supply paths fails, thereby preventing any interruption to critical equipment.
• Secure cooling equipment with backup units;
• New-generation inverters that ensure a stable and continuous power supply to equipment;
• Optimised air conditioning cabinets for cooling server cabinets.

The transformation of this data centre, which will ultimately comprise IT equipment covering a total area of 920 m² and with a rated power of 2 MW, will take place in several phases. Work began in January 2025 and will be followed by an initial handover phase in July 2026. The final handover is expected to take place in June 2027. This phased approach, which involves an on-site team of 25 experts from SPIE Building Solutions, will ensure a smooth transition while maintaining service continuity.

"Our approach combines technical innovation with environmental responsibility to create more sustainable and efficient digital infrastructure," explains Didier Augé, Climate Engineering Business Manager at SPIE Building Solutions. "This project highlights our commitment to the energy transition of data centres, a strategic sector in which we are expanding rapidly."

"Transforming an operational data centre while ensuring the security of sensitive government data is a complex technical challenge that we are well equipped to tackle," explains Jérémy Parde, Climate Engineering Project Manager at SPIE Building Solutions. "The availability of the installed technical architecture will correspond to Tier 3 in the classification system developed by the Uptime Institute. By applying our expertise, we are able to carry out this modernisation work while the site is occupied, without compromising the continuity of operations or the confidentiality of the hosted data. This is a specialised skill that demonstrates our ability to master complex environments".

_{1- Andrae, A. S. G., & Edler, T. (2015). On Global Electricity Usage of Communication Technology: Trends to 2030. Challenges, 6(1), 117–157. https://doi.org/10.3390/challe6010117}