BUSINESS

BP’s Castrol Wants to Cool China’s Red-Hot Data Centers

By Wang Xintong

Published: Sep. 17, 2025 7:25 p.m. GMT+8

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Peter Huang, Castrol’s global president of thermal management and data center. Photo: Castrol

As AI turns China’s data center market red-hot, Castrol wants to be the one to cool it down.

The company, which is owned by British energy giant BP PLC, launched its latest end-to-end liquid cooling solution in China at an industry conference last week.

Liquid cooling uses circulating fluids to dissipate heat. While installing a liquid cooling system is more expensive than air cooling — which uses fans — it’s also far more effective. As chips are growing more power-hungry, particularly the graphics processing units essential for AI training and inference, they’re generating more and more heat.

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Castrol, owned by BP, launched an end-to-end liquid cooling solution for China’s rapidly growing data center market, valued at 18.4 billion yuan ($2.6 billion) in 2024 and projected to reach 130 billion yuan by 2029.
Liquid cooling is increasingly essential as AI drives higher power densities, with China enforcing stricter energy efficiency (PUE) requirements.
Castrol aims to provide full-service solutions, addressing market needs beyond core product offerings, as the industry matures.

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Who’s Who

Castrol: Castrol, owned by BP PLC, has launched a new liquid cooling solution in China for data centers. The company believes liquid cooling is essential due to the increasing heat generated by AI chips. Castrol sees China as a crucial market, with its liquid cooling sector projected to reach 130 billion yuan by 2029, driven by demand for greener data centers and higher power densities.

BP PLC: BP PLC, a British energy giant, owns Castrol. Castrol recently launched its end-to-end liquid cooling solution in China, a "very important market" for the company. This move targets the rapidly growing liquid cooling market in China's data centers, driven by the need to cool power-hungry AI chips and China's push for greener data centers with lower PUEs.

Nvidia Corp.: Nvidia Corp. is mentioned in the context of next-generation AI server racks. These racks, produced by companies like Nvidia, often reach power densities where traditional air cooling methods become ineffective, necessitating the use of liquid cooling solutions. This highlights Nvidia's role in developing high-performance hardware that drives the demand for advanced cooling technologies in data centers.

IEIT Systems Co. Ltd.: IEIT Systems Co. Ltd. (中科曙光) is a manufacturer of next-generation AI server racks. These racks, from companies like IEIT Systems and Nvidia, can reach power densities where air cooling is ineffective, necessitating liquid cooling solutions.

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