Global data centres to drive demand for liquid cooling systems as AI boom heats up servers, energy consumption
- The global market for cooling systems could reach more than US$9 billion by 2027 from about US$2 billion this year, according to Macquarie Capital
- ‘This is not an option but a must for the industry to go for liquid cooling,’ says Arthur Lai, head of Asia technology research
A ChatGPT-led boom in artificial intelligence (AI) is expected to fuel an exponential growth in demand for liquid cooling technology from cooling module suppliers and data centre operators, given the need to keep temperatures and carbon emissions from servers down.
The global market for overall cooling systems could exceed US$9 billion by 2027 from about US$2 billion this year, according to Macquarie Capital. The adoption of liquid cooling systems in total data-centre units is projected to reach 22 per cent from 1 per cent over the same period, it said.
Liquid cooling solutions, which use liquids such as water or a refrigerant instead of air to cool data centres, are expected to fuel that growth. Its market value is forecast to grow almost 25 times to US$7.8 billion over the next three years, from US$317 million currently, according to Macquarie.
“How to get the heat out and cool down the system has become a major challenge for the [data centre] industry,” Arthur Lai, head of technology research of Asia at the Sydney-based investment bank, said in Hong Kong on Tuesday. “This would also be a big opportunity for investors.”
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Cooling, which reduces the temperature generated by server processors, consumes around 40 per cent of total power demand in data centres. It is the second-largest source of electricity consumption in such facilities, after the computer servers’ own electricity demand.
Because of the growing importance of cutting-edge AI, data centres are expected to account for 3 per cent of global electricity consumption by 2028 and 7 per cent by 2035, according to Macquarie. That means hitting about 3,100 terawatt-hours in a decade, the investment bank added.
