SK Innovation expects results in reliable power supply and thermal management for data centers, essential elements in the artificial intelligence (AI) era. SK Innovation merged with SK E&S in November last year to become the largest private energy company in the Asia-Pacific region, and with the planned merger of its subsidiaries SK On and SK Enmove, it aims to grow into a comprehensive energy company suited for the electrification era by 2030.
On the 21st, business circles said SK Innovation plans to secure diverse energy solutions for data center power supply, including LNG power generation, next-generation small modular reactors (SMR·Small Modular Reactor), and connections to renewable energy, pursuing both stability and eco-friendliness. The company intends to proactively address power supply variability and carbon neutrality issues by combining new technologies such as AI-based energy management systems and energy storage systems (ESS·Energy Storage System).
The key for data centers is "thermal management," which effectively controls heat generated by IT equipment such as servers. Based on the merger of battery subsidiary SK On and world No. 1 in lubricants and cooling SK Enmove, SK Innovation plans to introduce differentiated integrated thermal management solutions.
In particular, immersion cooling technology, which immerses servers directly in a special cooling liquid, has drawn attention as an innovative technology that dramatically improves cooling efficiency compared with traditional air cooling and greatly reduces fire risk. SK On and SK Enmove, which are preparing to merge, are accelerating immersion cooling technology for electric vehicle batteries and refrigerant development.
According to global market research firm BIS Research, the global electric vehicle lubricants market is expected to grow to 23 trillion won by 2031. MarketandMarkets foresees the immersion cooling market growing to 42 trillion won by 2040.
SK Innovation is also putting effort into the ESS business for data centers. ESS is a technology needed to stably operate infrastructures where power consumption surges, such as data centers. The main idea is to maximize energy efficiency and sustainability by linking AI-based battery management, smart factories and renewable energy.
SK On has a world top-five battery production capacity and capabilities in AI-based battery development and smart factory construction. A SK Innovation official said, ESS and data centers will be platforms for the company to leap to a global leader in future energy markets. We will evolve into a "total energy solution" company that covers the entire value chain from power to thermal management to batteries.
SK Group is pouring companywide resources into AI. In June, it announced plans, in cooperation with Amazon Web Services (AWS), to build the country's largest hyperscale AI data center in the Ulsan Mipo National Industrial Complex and to invest 7 trillion won. The AI data center will deploy a total of 60,000 GPUs and apply advanced AI semiconductor technologies such as HBM from SK hynix. SK Telecom and SK Broadband will be responsible for overall construction oversight and operation, respectively.
Chairman Chey Tae-won has emphasized that AI is the direction SK must take and a national growth strategy. In his New Year's address earlier this year, he said, "The rapid growth of the AI industry and the resulting global industrial and market restructuring are an irresistible trend, and we must use AI to enhance core business capabilities." At the "AI global cooperation corporate meeting" held at the Ulsan Exhibition & Convention Center in June, he also said, "For Korea to truly grow, it needs an AI market."