Liquid Cooling Surges as High-Performance Computing Nodes Drive Demand
The emergence of new high-performance computing (HPC) infrastructure nodes has reignited industry interest in liquid cooling technology. At the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC 2026), it was observed that major server manufacturers including Huawei, ZTE, H3C, and Inspur have fully upgraded their super-node thermal management systems to liquid cooling. This transition encompasses both prevalent cold-plate liquid cooling and the burgeoning field of immersion liquid cooling.
CICC forecasts that 2026 will mark a significant year for liquid cooling adoption, projecting the global intelligent computing center liquid cooling market to reach 114.7 billion yuan, a 273% year-on-year increase. Continued high growth is anticipated for 2027. Industry insiders widely agree that driven by the demand for higher computing power, liquid cooling technologies are continuously evolving and being implemented. As the price of fluorinated liquids decreases, immersion liquid cooling is expected to enter an engineering phase, pointing to promising market prospects.
The rapid adoption of liquid cooling solutions, particularly immersion systems, is a direct response to the escalating thermal demands of advanced computing infrastructure. As AI and HPC workloads intensify, traditional air-cooling methods are reaching their physical limits, necessitating more efficient thermal management. This shift presents a significant market opportunity, with substantial growth projections for the liquid cooling sector. The industry's move towards liquid cooling reflects a broader trend of technological innovation driven by performance requirements. Future developments will likely focus on optimizing fluid dynamics, material science for coolants, and the integration of these systems into existing data center architectures, balancing efficiency gains against initial investment and operational complexity.
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