Carrier inaugurates a New Testing Facility in Montluel to Accelerate Innovation in High‑Performance HVAC and Data Centre Solutions
MONTLUEL -
Carrier expands R&D capacity at the company’s European Centre of Excellence in Montluel, France, expanding R&D capacity for high-performance cooling and heating technologies aimed at data centres, industry and large commercial buildings. Carrier is a part of Carrier Global Corporation (NYSE: CARR), global leader in intelligent climate and energy solutions.
The investment comes as Europe’s market accelerates towards electrification and lower-impact refrigerants, driven by decarbonisation policies, EcoDesign efficiency thresholds and the ongoing F-Gas revision; testing performed in accordance with Eurovent-certified performance methodologies at Carrier’s Montluel site.
According to JLL's 2026 Global Data Center Outlook, EMEA data centers will add 13 GW of new supply by 2030, with growth concentrated in established European hubs such as London, Frankfurt, and Paris, fueled by hyperscaler demand and AI infrastructure investment. *
With a €12 million investment, Carrier’s next-generation testing laboratory at the Montluel site strengthens the company’s industrial and R&D capabilities.
“With these new test laboratory facilities, Eurovent certified, we’re raising the bar on how we support customers and partners in Europe,” said Bertrand Rotagnon, Executive Director, Commercial Business Line & Data Centres Europe. “The combination of higher test capacity and advanced environmental control let us validate performance with zero tolerance, earlier and bring solutions to market faster, giving customers the confidence to move ahead on high-efficiency cooling and heating for data centres, industry and district heating”.
The test room provides extended testing capabilities including:
- Air-cooled chiller up to 3,200 kW
- Air source heat pump up to 1,500 kW
- Water source Chiller / heat pump up to 6,000 kW
- Ambient conditions from −20°C to +60°C with humidity control
- Water flow rate up to 1,600 m³/h
“The new testing facility expands our engineering team's ability to test and validate chillers and heat pumps for very wide and most critical operating conditions,” said Nicolas Fonte, Director, Systems Engineering - Carrier Climate Solutions Europe. “This new equipment enables us to validate performance with high precision of next-generation chillers and large heat pump platforms supporting increasingly customers' requests for future infrastructures”.
To explore specifications or discuss your application, contact your Carrier representative or visit carrier.com and follow us on LinkedIn HVAC Europe.
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* Source: JLL 2026 Global Data Center Outlook
