Schneider Pilots Software-Defined Medium-Voltage Switchgear at Equinix Data Center

Schneider Electric has introduced software-defined medium-voltage switchgear for data centers and is piloting the architecture with Equinix in a live colocation facility, giving the power-distribution concept its first disclosed operating test. Schneider announced the system on September 28 at YOTTA 2026 in Las Vegas and said broader pilot programs will continue through 2027.

The architecture shifts more protection, control, monitoring and configuration functions from site-specific hardwiring into software running on standardized equipment. Schneider says that approach can shorten ordering, manufacturing and commissioning timelines, but the performance figures are based on the company’s own comparison and should not be treated as independently proven across the market.

Software-defined medium-voltage switchgear is being tested with Equinix

In its September 28 announcement, Schneider said the architecture has been deployed through a pilot with Equinix in a live colocation data-center environment. The specific Equinix site has not been disclosed.

Independent reporting from Data Center Dynamics also confirmed that Equinix is testing the technology at an undisclosed facility. That matters because the current development is a real operating pilot, not merely a product roadmap or laboratory demonstration.

Schneider describes the system as the world’s first fully software-defined medium-voltage switchgear. That first-of-a-kind characterization is a company claim. The verifiable development is that a standardized, software-configurable MV architecture has been disclosed and placed into a live Equinix pilot.

The architecture moves more control logic out of custom wiring

Schneider’s product documentation says the approach delivers protection and control logic, monitoring and diagnostics, cybersecurity functions, operational workflows, configuration management and upgrades through software rather than relying as heavily on fixed hardwired logic.

That does not mean the switchgear itself becomes virtual. Medium-voltage systems still require physical switching, insulation, protection, sensing and electrical connections. The change is in how much of the system’s intelligence and configuration can be standardized in hardware and altered through software.

This distinction also separates Schneider’s approach from solid-state transformer technology. Microgrid Media recently covered UC San Diego’s 2 MW AI data-center demonstration, which is testing power-electronic conversion from medium-voltage AC toward an 800 VDC architecture. Schneider’s pilot instead focuses on making conventional medium-voltage distribution equipment more configurable and repeatable through software.

Schneider estimates faster procurement and commissioning

Based on a comparison documented in Schneider Electric White Paper 303, the company says its software-defined approach can enable up to three times faster ordering and manufacturing and up to two times faster commissioning and onsite acceptance testing than conventional engineered-to-order medium-voltage switchgear.

Schneider also says a 20-panel comparison used 87% less control wiring, 91% fewer terminals and 85% less copper in that wiring. Those percentages are useful indicators of what the company is trying to simplify, but they remain vendor-reported results from a defined comparison rather than universal performance guarantees for every data-center project.

The potential value is schedule compression. Large AI campuses are increasingly being developed on timelines that can outpace traditional utility and electrical-infrastructure procurement. Microgrid Media’s reporting on behind-the-meter AI power systems in Texas has shown how developers are redesigning generation, storage and electrical infrastructure around faster time-to-power requirements.

RM AirSeT 38 extends the portfolio to 38 kV

Schneider also introduced RM AirSeT 38 Software Defined, an SF6-free gas-insulated switchgear product designed for up to 38 kV applications. The company says it uses pressurized pure air and vacuum interruption rather than SF6 and is aimed at higher-density data-center electrical backbones.

Schneider plans order intake for RM AirSeT 38 in 2027, with first deliveries expected in 2028. That schedule is separate from the existing Equinix pilot and should not be interpreted as meaning the new 38 kV product is already generally available.

The deployment also sits within a wider reliability discussion around rapidly changing computational loads. Microgrid Media has tracked NERC’s work on large computational loads, where better modeling, controls and coordination are becoming more important as data centers grow in size and electrical complexity.

The Equinix pilot is the key test

The most important evidence will come from operation rather than Schneider’s launch metrics. A live colocation site can test whether standardized hardware and software-driven configuration actually reduce engineering effort while maintaining protection performance, cybersecurity, maintainability and uptime.

Schneider says pilot programs will run through 2027, with broader availability following in 2028. Until those deployments generate more operating evidence, the claimed procurement and commissioning advantages should remain attributed to Schneider.

For software-defined medium-voltage switchgear, the Equinix deployment provides a concrete starting point. The next question is whether the architecture can be repeated across data centers with different utility voltages, protection requirements and operating standards without recreating the site-specific complexity it is designed to reduce.