Exploring Research Approaches for Eco-Friendly Complex Construction Technologies
The Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology (KIOST, President Lee Hee-seung) has launched a collaborative project and held a symposium to build an underwater server complex with a scale of 100,000 servers.
KIOST announced that on the 28th, it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for cooperation on the "Technology Research for Building an Eco-friendly Underwater Data Center Complex" and held a symposium at Lotte Hotel Ulsan, jointly with Ulsan City (Mayor Kim Doo-gyeom), GS Construction Co., Ltd. (CEO Heo Yoon-hong), and POSCO Co., Ltd. (CEO Lee Si-woo).
This MOU aims to develop technology for constructing an underwater data center complex with 100,000 servers on the seabed. It includes securing national research project budgets for developing underwater data center complex construction technology, developing original technologies for design and construction of the underwater data center complex, developing original technologies for operation and maintenance of the underwater data center complex, and matters related to the installation and demonstration of a testbed for the underwater data center complex.
Participants are showing the agreement at the Eco-friendly Underwater Data Center Complex Construction Technology Research Business Agreement and Symposium. (From the second person on the left in the front row) Youngshin Kim, CTO of GS Construction; Dukyeom Kim, Mayor of Ulsan; Heeseung Lee, Director of KIOST; Yeongyun Song, Head of POSCO Steel Solution Research Institute.
The underwater data center is an essential infrastructure for fostering future marine new industries, utilizing a low-power seawater cooling system that takes advantage of seawater flow. Through this, it can reduce cooling power consumption by up to 70% compared to conventional land-based data centers, thereby achieving carbon reduction.
So far, the research team led by Principal Researcher Han Taek-hee of KIOST’s Marine Spatial Development and Energy Research Division has been promoting the "Seabed Space Creation and Utilization Technology Development Project" since 2022 with a total of 23 organizations including Ulsan City, Lotte Construction Co., Ltd., and SK Telecom Co., Ltd., aiming to build Korea’s first seabed space platform in front of Sinri Port, Seosaeng-myeon, Ulju-gun, Ulsan.
The joint research team plans to complete the detailed design of the main module, data center module, and living module, which include research spaces, by the end of this year. Once the related technology development for the underwater data center, one of the modules composing the seabed space platform, is completed, they plan to actively proceed with research on building the underwater data center complex.
The total project cost for seabed space development is 37.314 billion KRW, with the project having started in 2022 and scheduled for completion in 2026. The demonstration goal is for three people to stay at a depth of 30 meters.
At the symposium held after the MOU signing ceremony, expert presentations and discussions were conducted on the topics of ▲Building an Eco-friendly Hyperscale Underwater Data Center Complex (KIOST Senior Researcher Choi Young-jin), ▲Power Saving and IT Infrastructure Construction Based on Underwater Data Centers (Kim Jae-han, SK Telecom Manager), ▲Research on Thermal Performance Evaluation of Underwater Data Centers (Kim Min-gyun, GS Construction Principal Researcher), and ▲Research on Appropriate Steel Selection and Thickness Reduction Structure for Pressure Vessels of Underwater Data Centers (Lee Jong-gu, POSCO Senior Researcher).
President Lee Hee-seung said, “We hope that KIOST will take a leading role in developing related technologies to build eco-friendly underwater data centers, strengthening the competitiveness of the data industry for carbon neutrality and energy savings, and contributing to the revitalization of the regional economy.”
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