Data center cooling tech rises as key industry amid AI boom

[Anchor]

As the AI industry grows, there is an air conditioner that sells well regardless of the season.

It is a cooling device designed to cool down data centers that emit massive heat.

Many companies are diving into the development of this cooling technology.

Kim Ji-sook reports.

[Report]

Work is in full swing in front of a large facility that looks like a submarine.

They are making a super-sized air conditioner called a 'chiller,' and the customers are not regular homes but data centers.

[Kim Young-mo/LG Electronics Chiller Development Head: "One unit can cool an area equivalent to about 15 soccer fields. The cold water from the chiller is used to cool the building's space through piping...."]

This factory can produce about a thousand units a year, and it is operating at 100% capacity.

This year, for the first time in Korea, they signed a supply contract with a big tech company in the U.S.

[Kim Young-mo/LG Electronics Chiller Development Head: "Right now, the factory is 'over capacity' (producing beyond its limits). We have a certain amount of orders for 2025-2026...."]

In data centers where large-capacity servers and equipment run continuously, heat exceeding 30 degrees is emitted.

Since overheating can cause servers to stop, cooling technology to efficiently dissipate heat is essential.

The competition in technology is fierce, with methods being developed to circulate water like an air conditioner to supply cold air, or even submerging servers in liquid.

[Chey Tae-won/SK Group Chairman/Nov. 4: "Currently, immersion cooling is applied at the server level, but we are researching a method to submerge entire server racks."]

With the surge in AI demand, the data center market is expected to grow by more than 10% annually, leading to predictions that the data center cooling industry will expand from 21 trillion won last year to 59 trillion won by 2032.

Data center cooling technology is emerging as a new key item in our industry alongside AI semiconductors.

This is KBS News, Kim Ji-sook.