Kangwon Energy (114190) is moving forward in earnest with its AI data center liquid cooling system business alongside Nidec, the Japanese precision motor and automotive electronics company. Building on a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed in June, the companies have accelerated their business execution by concluding a master agreement just over a month later.
Kangwon Energy announced on the 8th that it had signed a master agreement with Nidec to pursue the data center coolant distribution unit (CDU) business. The signing ceremony took place on the 6th at Nidec’s headquarters in Kyoto, Japan, attended by representatives from both companies, including Kangwon Energy CEO Shin Jin-yong and Nidec Korea Chairman Yamazaki.
Under this agreement, Kangwon Energy has secured official status to perform a full range of on-site services—including CDU installation, commissioning, and maintenance—for AI data center projects contracted by Nidec. Individual projects will proceed through separate contracts between end customers and Nidec, with Kangwon Energy responsible for on-site execution as Nidec’s partner.
The two companies have been jointly discussing business strategies for entering the data center liquid cooling market since early this year. Kangwon Energy explained that it has prepared water-cooled CDU installation and maintenance capabilities, along with a 24-hour technical support system, drawing on over 50 years of accumulated EPC (engineering, procurement, and construction) expertise from its industrial plant and secondary battery equipment businesses.
A CDU is a critical piece of equipment that circulates coolant through server racks to absorb heat and then expels it externally. As AI, high-performance computing (HPC), and cloud data centers proliferate, server density is rising sharply. In particular, the adoption of GPUs for AI servers has caused power density per rack to surge from around 10kW to 40–100kW or more, making thermal management via air cooling increasingly difficult. This is rapidly driving demand for liquid cooling solutions and CDUs.
Nidec, one of Japan’s leading precision motor manufacturers, is reportedly actively pursuing the development of liquid cooling solutions, including CDUs, in response to growing server cooling demand. Kangwon Energy plans to use this partnership as a springboard to expand its data center cooling infrastructure business as a new growth engine. Furthermore, the company intends to discuss with Nidec the construction of a CDU demonstration center in South Korea to strengthen its domestic CDU business competitiveness.
A Kangwon Energy representative stated, “Following the MOU with Nidec for cooperation in the liquid cooling sector, we have quickly entered the business execution phase by signing a master agreement. We will also accelerate discussions on individual projects to create ongoing business opportunities.”