HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering announced Wednesday a strategic partnership with Schneider Electric, formalized through a memorandum of understanding, to jointly pioneer advanced infrastructure technologies for the burgeoning field of floating data centers.
Schneider Electric, a globally recognized leader in power distribution, cooling, and energy management solutions for data centers, brings extensive expertise to this collaboration. Leveraging its proven track record in hyperscale data centers and advanced artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, the company is at the forefront of supplying cutting-edge digital infrastructure technologies for next-generation computing facilities worldwide.
Floating data centers, which innovatively house servers on robust offshore platforms, are rapidly emerging as a compelling alternative to traditional land-based facilities. This marine-based solution effectively addresses critical land constraints often faced by large-scale data centers and substantially reduces the significant energy consumption typically required for server cooling, promoting greater sustainability.
Under this pivotal agreement, the two industry leaders will collaboratively develop integrated infrastructure solutions for these innovative offshore data centers. This will be achieved by synergistically combining Schneider Electric’s unparalleled expertise in advanced power and cooling systems with HD KSOE’s world-class offshore platform design and construction technologies.
The partners are committed to jointly assessing the comprehensive infrastructure and intricate engineering requirements essential for the successful commercialization of floating data centers. Their collaborative efforts will focus on developing optimized solutions specifically tailored for offshore deployment and strengthening their integrated engineering capabilities to meet future demands.
Further enhancing their collaboration, both partners also plan to regularly exchange vital information on the latest technological advancements and emerging engineering challenges. This continuous dialogue will pave the way for exploring additional joint research and development opportunities, ensuring ongoing innovation in the sector.
“As the expansion of AI infrastructure drives demand for greater power efficiency and sustainability in data centers, these have become critical industry priorities,” said Kwon Ji-woong, president of Schneider Electric Korea.
Kim Hyung-kwan, president of HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, said the company has been accelerating the development of offshore data center technologies by leveraging its expertise in designing and building floating structures.
“Through this collaboration, we will further advance the core technologies needed to stably operate large-scale, high-density computing infrastructure at sea,” Kim said.
