Intel demonstrated in Taiwan at the end of last yearSolutions for data centers such as immersion cooling, energy management, and innovative product sustainability designsLater, today (12/28), a letter of intent for cooperation was signed with the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) of Taiwan, and ITRI announced the opening of the Taiwan High-Computing System Cooling Certification Joint Laboratory. In the future, it will work with the industry to conduct verification tests in line with international standards, accelerate the development of advanced cooling solutions for domestic data centers, and at the same time align with international technologies.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs' Department of Industrial Technology stated that according to Digitimes Research estimates, Taiwan's server output value, including semi-finished system components and parts, exceeded NT$1.8 trillion for the first time last year, accounting for 9% of the global total, making it a major global server supplier. The booming development of AI has driven a surge in demand for power and computing power in data centers, prompting a proliferation of high-performance computing solutions. However, the resulting heat dissipation and power issues have also hindered operational efficiency and net-zero emissions.
Faced with the increasing energy demands of generative AI applications, major manufacturers are actively seeking power and cooling solutions. Power Usage Efficiency (PUE) is the most important global metric for measuring power efficiency, with values closer to 1 indicating greater efficiency. In 2017, the National Development Council proposed a goal of reducing the PUE of government data centers to 1.6. Currently, with funding from the Department of Industrial Technology, the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) has developed advanced cooling solutions for data centers operating at kilowatts and above, and has partnered with Intel to establish a joint laboratory for high-computing system cooling certification. The institute aims to assist domestic manufacturers with certification testing and align with international standards, thereby seizing opportunities in the international supply chain.
Zhang Shijie, director of the Electronics and Optoelectronics Systems Institute of the Industrial Technology Research Institute, pointed out that with the increasing demand for data transmission volume and transmission speed, major global manufacturers have set up data centers. The electricity consumption of data centers increased by 2021% in 32 compared with the previous year. According to a report by the International Energy Agency, last year global data centers used 2200 to 3200 billion kWh of energy, accounting for 0.9% to 1.3% of global electricity consumption and carbon emissions of 0.3%. How to improve the operating efficiency of data centers and reduce energy consumption has become the key.
The joint laboratory established through this collaboration will build a coolant property testing process and platform, integrating system and material development verification technologies. In the future, it will provide manufacturers with field verification, including material property testing, material compatibility with server components, and service life assessment, creating new opportunities for the industry to enter the international market.
Li Zongming, Director of the Materials and Chemical Engineering Research Institute at the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), stated that compared to traditional data centers, immersion liquid cooling technology directly transfers heat generated by components to the coolant for dissipation, eliminating the need for other active cooling methods. This significantly reduces carbon emissions by 45%, making it one of the preferred cooling solutions for data centers. ITRI is currently investing in the research and development of single-phase immersion coolant material technology. This emerging cooling technology boasts extremely low cooling energy consumption, is fluoride-free, and complies with EU standards.
Chia-Hui Wang, Vice President and General Manager of Intel Taiwan, stated that Intel has long been a leader in datacenter innovation and is committed to developing solutions that implement enterprise sustainability. Their latest Open IP immersion liquid cooling solution has completed proof-of-concept design in Taiwan. Immersion cooling is an emerging server cooling technology that offers higher energy efficiency, but requires real-world verification sites and testing platforms to facilitate enterprise adoption. Collaboration with ITRI will facilitate the development and validation of immersion cooling technology, and further promote advanced thermal solutions with the Taiwanese supply chain to achieve the goal of sustainable datacenter development.
