With the rapid increase in artificial intelligence (AI) usage, the power consumption to manage heat in data centers is rising, leading domestic telecommunications companies to intensify their efforts developing liquid cooling technology using water. This approach drastically reduces power consumption compared to traditional air-cooled cooling systems. Major overseas tech companies that have already adopted liquid cooling technology are also accelerating the development of new cooling methods using seawater, which eliminates the need for power consumption to operate cooling systems.
◇ Telecom companies accelerating the switch to high-efficiency 'liquid cooling' technology
According to industry sources on the 4th, domestic telecommunications companies are accelerating the development of liquid cooling technology to replace existing air-cooled cooling systems. The most proactive company is LG Uplus. LG Uplus held a proof-of-concept event demonstrating liquid (immersion) cooling technology at its Pyeongchon 2 Center in Anyang, Gyeonggi Province, on the 31st of last month. The LG Uplus AI data center in Paju, scheduled for completion in the second half of 2027, has also been designed to accommodate the application of liquid cooling technology. SK Telecom is expected to introduce the liquid cooling method at the largest AI data center in Korea, which is set to be built in the Ulsan Mipo National Industrial Complex in collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS) by 2027. SK Telecom was the first among the three major telecommunications companies to complete the validation of liquid cooling technology in 2023. KT also completed the validation of immersion cooling technology for thermal management in data centers through its subsidiary KT Cloud in August of last year.
Most data centers in the country operate using air-cooled cooling methods. Air cooling is a method where cool air is supplied to empty spaces within servers to manage heat. This method is inexpensive to set up but has the drawback of high power consumption. While liquid cooling systems (which involve pipes carrying liquid connected to server circuits to dissipate heat) have been applied in some domestic data centers, the surge in AI demand following the pandemic has made it challenging to manage heat even with liquid cooling methods. This is why the liquid cooling method, which involves submerging servers directly in a cooling liquid, is gaining traction. Industry sources indicate that liquid cooling can reduce power consumption by about 60% compared to air cooling.
Industry experts predict that telecommunications companies will have no choice but to extensively replace cooling technology at data centers with liquid cooling methods in the future. This is because the latest graphics processing unit (GPU) from NVIDIA, Blackwell, produces a significant amount of heat that cannot be managed using existing air or liquid cooling methods, necessitating the adoption of liquid cooling in the country. An official from the data center industry noted, "GPUs used for AI computations generate 2 to 3 times more heat than regular server GPUs, so if cooling is insufficient, equipment aging can occur," adding, "As the demand for AI increases, power consumption will rise, and more data centers using high-performance GPUs that generate significant heat will emerge, which will inevitably lead to the further proliferation of liquid cooling methods."
◇ Concerns over water resource scarcity due to water evaporation... accelerating the development of cooling methods using seawater
Global tech corporations such as Google, Meta, Amazon, and Alibaba have already established data centers utilizing liquid cooling systems. However, despite the advantages of liquid cooling, concerns have been raised about the issue of water resource scarcity due to more than 80% of the water used evaporating. Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, has stated, "Every time a search is conducted using ChatGPT, a drop of water evaporates."
For this reason, methods utilizing seawater for cooling are also gaining attention. Since seawater, rather than freshwater, is used, there is no concern about water resource shortages due to evaporation, and because seawater naturally absorbs heat, there is no need for a cooling system to cool the servers, which saves power consumed by cooling devices.
Microsoft (MS) has been conducting the 'Nautilus Project' for establishing underwater data centers since 2018 and has successfully completed technology validation. MS has operated data centers as containers installed underwater. A Chinese data center company, Highlander, has also established and is operating an underwater data center near Hainan Island in China. Korea is also planning to build an underwater data center near the coast of Ulsan in collaboration with 23 companies and institutions, including SK Telecom and Hyundai E&C, through the Korea Institute of Ocean Science & Technology. According to industry sources, a 'submarine data center module' equipped with 80 GPUs is expected to be installed underwater around 2027.