HD Hyundai teams with Schneider Electric on floating data centres

HD Hyundai is pushing into the emerging market for floating data centres, agreeing to work with Schneider Electric on the technology needed to place digital infrastructure at sea.

HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, the group's shipbuilding holding company, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Schneider Electric to jointly develop infrastructure for data centres mounted on floating offshore structures. The concept is aimed at sidestepping the constraints of land-based facilities, where suitable sites are scarce and cooling costs are high.

Under the arrangement, Schneider Electric brings its experience in power, cooling and energy management for hyperscale data centres and AI infrastructure, while HD Hyundai contributes floating structure design and offshore engineering. The partners will focus on integrating data centre power and cooling systems with floating platform technology, share knowledge on emerging developments and look for further joint research opportunities.

Kim Hyung-kwan, chief executive of HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, said the collaboration would advance the core technologies needed to run large-scale, high-density computing infrastructure reliably at sea. Other Korean yards are also weighing moves into the same space.