LG Electronics (066570) will supply cooling solutions to artificial intelligence data centers totaling 5 gigawatts in North America. The company has signed a long-term chiller supply contract with a local data center infrastructure firm, sharply strengthening its position in the North American AI data center cooling market.
LG Electronics said on the 5th that it had signed a long-term agreement with AIR Control Concept, a North American infrastructure platform company, to supply chillers for AI data centers. Industry sources estimate the total contract value at trillions of won, with a term of three to five years.
A chiller is a cooling device that produces chilled water to remove heat generated at data centers. AIR Control Concept handles data center design, construction, equipment procurement and after-sales management in the United States and Canada, and carries out global data center projects through its subsidiary AIR Mission Critical (AMC).
By supplying chillers over an extended period to the AI data center projects AIR Control Concept is pursuing, LG Electronics will reduce the burden of competing in bidding for each individual project and secure stable order volumes.
The 5GW order equals about 5% of next year's increase in global data center capacity. According to research firm Omdia, the power capacity required by data centers worldwide is forecast to rise 108GW to 334GW next year from 226GW this year.
The two companies are also discussing expanding the supply list to include coolant distribution units (CDUs), the core equipment for server liquid cooling. LG Electronics aims to broaden its business from chillers into liquid-cooling equipment such as CDUs.
LG Electronics booked more than 600 billion won in orders for AI data center cooling solutions in the first half of this year. Cumulative orders are expected to reach trillions of won by the end of the year. The company is also expected to reach 1 trillion won in chiller sales earlier than its original target of the end of next year. LG Electronics earlier decided to build a new chiller plant in Windsor, Virginia, in the United States, with production targeted for the first half of next year.
"Based on differentiated technology in chillers and liquid-cooling solutions and our experience supplying large-scale data centers, we will lead the global AI data center cooling market," said Lee Jae-sung, president and head of LG Electronics' Eco Solution (ES) Company.
