Highly efficient, specialised and reliable water technology manages the thermal load in data centres intelligently. AI-managed systems optimise the use of energy in real time and minimise the water required for cooling. Which means that there is further high potential
for sustainable increases in performance.
Semiconductor production and data centers are key industries in the digital and AI age – and also energy and water-intensive at the same time. There are over 11,000 data centers in operation around the world, all needing water for cooling – and the number is rapidly increasing. In addition, each AI calculation generates heat that has to be dissipated. Solutions that reliably provide cooling and process water and that measurably reduce the water footprint are in demand.
“With our products, systems and solutions, we are enabling the entire AI value chain – in Korea and all around the world. At our Green Fab in Busan, water technology is being developed that reliably serves critical infrastructure, for example in the semiconductor industry and in data centers. At the same time, AI is also playing an increasingly important role in our day-to-day work: our aim is to use AI to analyse failure patterns and ‘lessons learned’ and to consistently drive the digital transformation of our factory.”
Artificial Intelligence and big data are driving the global cloud market and thus increasing the number of data centers and their enormous energy demands. This digital infrastructure is one of the largest consumers of electricity worldwide and requires powerful, reliable and, at the same time, intelligent cooling to regulate the enormous amount of waste heat generated by huge numbers of servers. This is exactly where Wilo can step in: with WATER AI, connecting water, energy and digital intelligence. Alibaba Cloud relies on this expertise. One of Asia’s largest water-cooled cloud clusters, located in Hangzhou, is now operated using the Wilo-Ice Cubes container solution. This solution has been specially designed for AI-managed applications with high energy loads and combines physical efficiency with digital control. The compact, pre-assembled system provides 20 percent space savings and shortens the delivery time by 40 percent .
Wilo-Ice Cubes shorten the delivery time by 40 percent thanks to the system's prefabricated modules.
At the same time, sensor systems and AI algorithms enable performance to be adjusted dynamically – even in extreme weather conditions or during peak loads. The cooperation between Wilo and Alibaba began back in the design phase: engineering teams developed a tailor-made configuration that guarantees maximum operational reliability and that can be easily scaled up. The project shows how WATER AI works: Wilo makes digital ecosystems more efficient, more resilient and also more sustainable and thus creates the foundation for a responsible AI era.
