Great Wall Securities: High-density computing power drives industries in need to enter a period of scale expansion

The Zhitong Finance App learned that Great Wall Securities released a research report saying that the increase in power consumption and deployment density of computing power equipment combined with stricter energy efficiency requirements in data centers is expected to jointly promote the expansion of liquid cooling applications. With the gradual improvement of interface standards and the accumulation of project delivery experience, the competitive advantage of the liquid cooling industry chain is expected to be more reflected in product reliability, system adaptability, and engineering delivery efficiency. It is recommended to focus on key aspects such as cold plates, CDU, and quick connectors, as well as manufacturers with full chain product layout, system adaptability, and project delivery experience.

The main views of Great Wall Securities are as follows:

AI computing power density is increasing, and energy efficiency requirements are becoming stricter, and liquid cooling is moving from “optional” to “required”

The bank believes that the increase in power consumption of computing power chips and cabinet power density is one of the most important drivers of this round of liquid cooling industrialization. According to the “ZTE Liquid Cooling Technology White Paper”, the maximum power consumption of modern X86 platform CPUs is 300 to 400 W, and the highest chip heat flow density in the industry has already exceeded 120 W/cm2; the continuous increase in chip power density directly limits chip cooling and reliability, and traditional air cooling capacity is becoming more and more unsustainable. Liquid cooling technology takes advantage of the fact that the specific heat capacity of liquid is higher than air. Through close integration with heating components, the chip junction temperature can be reduced by about 15°C to 25°C, which fully satisfies the chip cooling requirements in high-density deployment scenarios. The bank believes that the cooling requirements of high-power computing power equipment and the energy efficiency requirements of data centers are expected to jointly promote the expansion of liquid cooling applications; solutions that take into account cooling efficiency, operating costs, and engineering adaptability are expected to obtain more application opportunities.

Cold plate liquid cooling dominates the mainstream, and immersion liquid cooling has potential for development in ultra-high power consumption scenarios

According to ODCC of the Open Data Center Committee, based on factors such as initial investment costs, maintainability, PUE effects, and industrial maturity, cold plate and single-phase immersion have advantages over other liquid cooling technologies. They are currently mainstream solutions in the industry. Cold plate liquid cooling can achieve a smooth transition from traditional air cooling models and are more used in the data center field. Immersion liquid cooling technology is developing steadily: Immersion liquid cooling has achieved 100% liquid cooling on the secondary side, and the energy saving effect is better. Therefore, the bank believes that the technical route is not simply choosing one of the two. As the mainstream liquid cooling technology routes of intelligent computing centers, cold plate liquid cooling and immersion liquid cooling each have differentiated advantages.

High-density computing power drives the performance upgrade of liquid cooling systems, and continuous iteration of core components

The intelligent computing center cold plate liquid cooling system mainly includes components such as cold plates, pipelines, quick couplings, liquid distribution manifolds, cooling capacity distribution units, and outdoor primary side cooling equipment. As cabinet power expands from tens of kilowatts to 100 kilowatts or even megawatts, the stand-alone CDU capacity increases rapidly. However, with the continuous improvement of requirements for high-density deployment and automated operation and maintenance of liquid cooling intelligent computing centers, blind plug quick connectors are expected to become a typical configuration in high-density deployment scenarios due to their high space utilization rate and convenient operation and maintenance operation. The bank believes that the requirements of liquid cooling systems for heat transfer, flow control, and connection reliability are expected to drive continuous iteration of key components. Suppliers with product verification and system adaptation capabilities are expected to accumulate competitive advantages in large-scale applications.

Standardization promotes the decoupling of liquid cooling software and hardware, and accelerates the evolution of the industrial chain to full-chain layout and systematic delivery

The bank believes that standardization is another key to moving liquid cooling from a project system to large-scale replication. The “Data Center Cold Plate Liquid Cooling System Technical Specification” was issued on July 30, 2026 and implemented on February 1, 2027. The system defines the boundaries between the secondary side and the primary side, and makes uniform provisions on cold plates, quick couplings, Manifold, CDU, coolant, piping and test methods. Domestic liquid cooling temperature control manufacturers are expanding from traditional precision air conditioning/cooling source equipment to key components on the server side. The bank believes that the clear division of end-to-end product coverage and delivery interfaces is expected to improve the system adaptation and deployment efficiency of liquid cooling solutions; manufacturers with cross-link collaboration capabilities and project delivery experience are expected to benefit from the expansion of the scale of liquid cooling applications.

Demand for AI intelligent computing is driving the expansion of liquid cooling applications, and the market size is expected to continue to grow rapidly

According to the “Intelligent Computing Center Liquid Cooling Industry Panorama Research Report (2025)”, at this stage, as liquid cooling technology becomes more mature and reliable, the industry's recognition of liquid cooling systems is constantly increasing, and the size of China's liquid cooling market is expanding year by year. According to estimates by the China Academy of Information and Communication Technology, the liquid cooling market size of China's intelligent computing center reached 18.4 billion yuan in 2024, a year-on-year increase of 66.1% over 2023. It is estimated that after 5 years of growth, the liquid cooling market in China's intelligent computing center will reach about 130 billion yuan by 2029. According to information released on Omdia's official website on June 18, 2024, the global data center cooling management market has soared to an astonishing 7.67 billion US dollars in 2023, far exceeding previous expectations. This breakthrough progress is remarkable. This unprecedented growth trend is expected to continue until 2028, with a compound annual growth rate of 18.4%. The bank believes that the liquid cooling project already implemented by the operator provides a practical foundation for subsequent large-scale applications. As intelligent computing needs and industrial support continue to develop, the liquid cooling industry chain is expected to usher in a wider range of application opportunities, and project construction, delivery and operation and maintenance capabilities will become an important support for demand transformation.

Risk warning: AI computing power infrastructure construction falls short of expected risk; liquid cooling penetration rate falls short of expected risk; risk of evolution of liquid cooling technology routes and industrial standards; competition in the liquid cooling industry increases risk.