Two multinational corporations have announced a new collaboration to create energy-efficient and sustainable solutions for data centers as the market experiences significant growth.  ExxonMobil and Intel are working to design, test, research and develop new liquid cooling technologies to optimize data center performance and help customers meet their sustainability goals. Liquid cooling solutions serve as an alternative to traditional air-cooling methods in data centers.  “Our partnership with ExxonMobil to co-develop turnkey solutions for liquid cooling will enable significant energy and water savings for data center and network deployments,” said Jen Huffstetler, Chief Product Sustainability Officer, Intel.  According to consulting firm McKinsey, “a hyperscaler’s data center can use as much power as 80,000 households do,” and that demand is expected to keep surging. Power consumption by the U.S. data center market is forecasted “to reach 35 gigawatts (GW) by 2030, up from 17 GW in 2022,” according to a McKinsey analysis. Artificial intelligence and machine learning, and other advanced computing techniques are increasing computational workloads, and in return, increasing electricity demand. Therefore, companies are searching for solutions to support this growth.   ExxonMobil launched its full portfolio of data center immersion fluid products last year. The partnership with Intel will allow them to further advance their efforts in this market.  “By integrating ExxonMobil’s proven expertise in liquid cooling technologies with Intel’s long legacy of industry leadership in world-changing computing technologies, together we will further the industry’s adoption and acceptance as it transitions to liquid cooling technologies,” said Sarah Horne, Vice President, ExxonMobil.  Learn more about Houston's Energy Transition Initiative. 

Turboden, an Italian company owned by Mitsubishi, recently announced a partnership with Fervo Energy to support its Cape Station project through its expertise in Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) systems. According to Fervo, Turboden will provide the geothermal company with the engineering and procurement of power plant equipment for the initial 90 MW of the project, including the installation of three generators with six ORC turbines. This announcement comes weeks after Mitsubishi Heavy Industries announced a substantial investment in Houston-based Fervo Energy, helping the geothermal development company reach $244 million in funding to advance its carbon-free technologies. The funding, backed by a consortium of investors including Mitsubishi, Galvanize Climate Solutions, John Arnold, Liberty Mutual Investments, Marunouchi Innovation Partners and Mercuria, will support Fervo’s ongoing Cape Station project in Utah, a 400-megawatt operation that aims to deliver clean electricity to the grid by 2026.  “Demand for around-the-clock clean energy has never been higher, and next-generation geothermal is uniquely positioned to meet this demand,” said Tim Latimer, Fervo CEO and Co-Founder. “Our technology is fully derisked, our pricing is already competitive, and our resource pipeline is vast. This investment enables Fervo to continue to position geothermal at the heart of 24/7 carbon-free energy production.” The groundbreaking project, located in Beaver County, Utah, began drilling in June 2023. It has since seen remarkable success, surpassing the Department of Energy’s (DOE) expectations for enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) with a 70 percent reduction in drilling times and lower production costs, according to Fervo.   “The investment in Fervo Energy is a leading example of the growing number of strategic investments by energy and industrial companies into innovative startups with promising technologies, which is why the Houston region continues to lead commercial deployment of solutions for the transition,” said Jane Stricker, the Partnership’s senior vice president of energy transition and executive director of Houston Energy Transition Initiative (HETI). With an abundance of innovative companies like Fervo, Houston has garnered significant acclaim for its energy transition ecosystem, attracting investors from around the world to the region. According to a Partnership analysis, Houston-based energy transition startups, businesses, and companies secured $6.1 billion in financing from private market investments in 2022, a 62 percent increase compared to 2021. Learn more about Houston’s Energy Transition Initiative.