TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Industrial Technology Research Institute said Thursday it has partnered with Japan’s ZYRQ  to develop a water-based cooling technology designed to deliver more computing power with less energy.

Yang Ping-hsiang (楊秉祥), deputy director of ITRI’s Mechanical and Mechatronics Systems Research Laboratories, explained the system uses water instead of oil or fluorocarbon-based fluids for cooling, per CNA. He said water’s non-toxic and carbon-neutral qualities make it sustainable and cost-effective.

He added that optimized fluid design and advanced heat-dissipating components enable “more computing power with less energy.” The system cuts data centers’ reliance on electricity and cooling infrastructure, reducing both operational costs and carbon emissions.

Joint testing in Japan showed GPU surface temperatures staying below 30 C under heavy loads of up to 200 kilowatts per cubic meter. ITRI also incorporated metal 3D printing into the cooling plate design, reducing copper use and system weight while improving efficiency.

ITRI said the new system maintained 99.9% stable chip performance and achieved more than twice the cooling efficiency of current liquid-cooling systems. With its simpler design and lower setup costs, it offers a sustainable path for data centers amid growing AI energy demands.

ZYRQ was founded by the technical team from Japanese supercomputer processor maker PEZY Computing. With expertise in high-performance computing, ITRI said the company will serve as a strategic partner for helping Taiwan enter Japan’s semiconductor supply chain.