液冷专题报告:AI助推液冷行业步入新时代
Southwest Securities·2024-09-18 12:02

Investment Rating - The report indicates a positive investment outlook for the liquid cooling industry, driven by technological advancements and increasing market demand. Core Insights - Liquid cooling technology outperforms air cooling in several aspects, including heat dissipation, achieving a Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) below 1.2 compared to air cooling's typical PUE of 1.5-1.8. This technology also reduces noise and enhances space utilization in high-density computing applications, making it the preferred cooling method for data centers as power demands rise above 30kW per cabinet [2][3] - The liquid cooling market is rapidly expanding, with projections indicating a global market size of $21.3 billion by 2030 and a Chinese market size of 4.5 billion yuan by 2027. Major players include Infinera, Vertiv, and Huawei, with a complete ecosystem established from components to servers [2][3] - The growth of the liquid cooling industry is driven by increasing chip power, stricter national PUE standards, and the rapid expansion of the AI server market, where liquid cooling servers accounted for 45% of global AI server shipments in 2023 [2][3] Summary by Sections Liquid Cooling vs Air Cooling - Liquid cooling technology has a penetration rate of approximately 5% as of 2023, utilizing high specific heat capacity liquids for heat transfer, which significantly improves cooling efficiency compared to air cooling [8] - The advantages of liquid cooling include lower PUE values (below 1.2), reduced noise levels, and less stringent site selection requirements, making it suitable for various environments [8] Market Dynamics - The global liquid cooling market was valued at $2.6 billion in 2023 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 27.6% from 2024 to 2030, reaching $21.3 billion [35] - In China, the liquid cooling market is projected to reach 4.5 billion yuan by 2027, with a year-on-year growth rate of 46.3% in 2023 [38] Industry Drivers - The continuous increase in chip power, with Nvidia's B200 chip reaching a maximum power of 1200W, is pushing the adoption of liquid cooling solutions [51][54] - Stricter PUE standards in China, driven by carbon neutrality goals, necessitate the adoption of more efficient cooling solutions, with liquid cooling capable of meeting these requirements [61][62] - The AI server market is expected to drive overall server shipments, with liquid cooling solutions becoming increasingly viable as AI server shipments grow [67]