As AI drives global data-centre electricity demand towards a projected 945 TWh by 2030, micro data centres are gaining attention as businesses look for more localised and efficient ways to process growing volumes of data.

Zella DC is targeting the shift with compact edge infrastructure, including recent deployments in Japan, as the global micro data-centre market is forecast to reach US$12.45 billion in 2026.

That growth is forcing the industry to look beyond giant facilities and consider where computing should actually happen.

Micro data centres place processing and storage closer to the machines, businesses and systems generating the data, potentially reducing latency and the need to move every workload back to a distant facility.=

Zella DC is building its business around that edge model, developing compact indoor and outdoor micro data centres designed for environments ranging from offices to remote and harsh industrial locations.

Its systems integrate power, cooling, security and monitoring into pre-engineered infrastructure that Zella says can be deployed without constructing a conventional server room.

But calling micro data centres “green” requires more scrutiny.

A smaller facility still consumes electricity, and its environmental performance ultimately depends on the efficiency of its cooling and power systems, the electricity supplying it, equipment utilisation and how much data it prevents from travelling across networks.

That makes Zella’s proposition particularly relevant to the industry’s next phase. The question is no longer simply whether data centres can become larger, but whether computing can be deployed closer to where it is needed while using infrastructure more efficiently.

With global data-centre electricity consumption forecast to more than double within six years, micro data centres may not be the answer to sustainable computing on their own, but they could become an important part of how the industry tackles the growing energy and infrastructure burden of the AI era.

Edge Computing Faces A Growing Carbon Problem

The data-centre industry’s carbon footprint is becoming harder to ignore as AI drives electricity demand higher.

The IEA estimates data centres consumed 415 TWh of electricity in 2024, while emissions from their electricity use are projected to rise from about 180 million tonnes today to 300 million tonnes by 2035.

That is putting greater attention on green edge computing, where processing is moved closer to where data is generated rather than sending every workload to a distant facility.

Micro data centres such as those developed by Zella DC could help reduce unnecessary data movement and infrastructure overhead, although their environmental benefit ultimately depends on power sources, cooling efficiency, utilisation and how the equipment is operated.

The pressure is intensifying. The IEA reported in April 2026 that global data-centre electricity consumption jumped 17% during 2025, while electricity use by AI-focused data centres increased even faster. Global data-centre demand is still expected to roughly double by 2030.

For businesses trying to reduce their carbon footprint, the question is therefore becoming less about whether computing should move to the edge and more about whether it can be deployed locally without simply shifting the environmental cost somewhere else.

The Solution? Switching from Traditional Server Rooms to Micro Data Centre Storage

Micro data centres are, as the name suggests, a far more compact method of storing vast amounts of data. As technology has advanced – and continues to do so – so too have ways to safely store the digital footprint that we create.

A micro data centre is the size of a small refrigerator and comes with its own power and cooling features. In addition to the environmental advantages this brings, such storage also satisfies the increasing need for edge computing capabilities.

Consider the following:

• Micro data centres dramatically reduce energy requirements: Keeping these at the optimal temperature typically uses 30-60% less energy than that of a traditional server room. Companies that have switched to micro data centres have reported power savings of up to 70%.
  
  
• Micro data centres take up little room: This eliminates the need for a dedicated server room, as they can be sited anywhere – even in a meeting room, board room, reception area or similar.
  
  
• Micro data centres are quiet: Server rooms typically emit 75-95Db of noise. A micro data centre runs at around 35Db – comparable to being in a quiet rural area.
  
  
• Micro data centres are scalable: Storage can easily be increased when needed. This negates the need for a large outlay during the initial stages of a business, plus there’s little downtime when you do need to add future storage.
  
  
• Micro data centres are quick to implement: Forget measuring the implementation time in years. A micro data centre can be up and running in as little as five weeks (typically taking anything between 5-12 weeks, depending on requirements).

From energy savings to a reduction in latency – thanks to having the storage close to the hardware that generates the data (the definition of ‘Edge’ computing) – it’s no wonder that companies are waking up to the fact that there is an alternative to traditional server rooms and cloud storage.

Zella DC is an Australian company that’s been pivotal in bringing this advanced technology to reality.

Over a decade of research and implementation in some of the harshest environments (think remote, mining locations) has created a data storage solution that helps companies achieve overall energy savings, meet their emission targets and upscale the performance level of data transference as needs constantly increase.

Latest – 2026 News Update

Micro data centres are moving into a more important role as AI pushes global computing demand higher. The IEA expects data-centre electricity consumption to reach about 945 TWh by 2030, more than double 2024 levels and growing around 15% annually.

Zella DC is targeting this shift with compact indoor and outdoor systems designed to put computing closer to where data is generated.

In July 2026, Japan’s Rakuten Eagles deployed two Zella Pro 25U units inside its training facilities, demonstrating how edge infrastructure is moving beyond traditional IT environments.

The market is expanding rapidly, with one 2026 industry forecast putting the global micro data-centre market at US$12.45 billion, up from an estimated US$9.65 billion in 2025.

For Zella DC, the opportunity is increasingly tied to a simple infrastructure problem: as AI makes centralised data centres larger and more power-hungry, some workloads may be better processed closer to the edge.

Angie Keeler: Building an Australian edge-computing business for the world’s harshest environments

Angie Keeler is the co-founder and CEO of Zella DC, an Australian technology company specialising in micro and modular data-centre infrastructure for edge computing.

Keeler’s career with Zella DC has taken her well beyond the traditional role of a technology executive.

She has spent 15 years working across the IT and micro data-centre industry, helping build the company from its early days into an international business with deployments spanning six continents.

The company was co-founded by Angie and Clinton Keeler in Western Australia, where the original problem was not theoretical.

Remote operations needed reliable computing infrastructure in places where conventional server rooms were expensive, impractical or simply unsuitable for the environment.

That experience became the foundation for Zella DC’s approach to edge infrastructure. The company says it has now delivered hundreds of edge-ready solutions across six continents, including deployments involving remote mining operations, healthcare facilities, retail environments and government infrastructure.

The international footprint is significant because micro data centres are increasingly being considered as part of a broader shift in how computing infrastructure is deployed.

Instead of concentrating every workload inside a handful of enormous facilities, edge computing places processing capacity closer to where data is generated and where applications need it.

Zella DC’s current product range reflects that shift, spanning indoor Zella Pro systems, outdoor Zella Outback units and Zella Max modular data-centre infrastructure.

The company says its systems are factory pre-engineered, tested and delivered with integrated power management, cooling, security and monitoring.

The company has also built relationships with major organisations across different industries. Zella DC lists BHP, Austal, the Australian Government, Optus, CSIRO, Gold Fields, BT, Nissan, Toyota, UWA and Auckland Airport among organisations using its technology.

Zella DC’s business has been built around that second problem. Its proposition is not to compete with the enormous hyperscale facilities being constructed by the world’s largest cloud providers, but to provide smaller, purpose-built infrastructure where computing needs to operate closer to the edge.

For Keeler, that means building a technology company around a problem first encountered in Australia’s remote and demanding operating environments, then taking the resulting engineering model into international markets.

The result is a distinctly Australian technology story: a company that began by solving practical infrastructure problems in harsh environments and has subsequently built an international micro data-centre business around the same principle — put reliable computing where it is actually needed.