Lenovo expands Neptune cooling technology for lower energy use in data centers

Lenovo has broadened the use of its Neptune liquid cooling technology within its data center offerings to address the growing energy and compute demands of contemporary systems.

The expansion focuses on reducing power consumption and managing thermal output more efficiently in data centers supporting Artificial Intelligence (AI) and High performance computing (HPC) workloads. Lenovo’s technology offers an approach to meet operational challenges related to rising energy use and compute density.

Neptune’s cooling system circulates warm water directly to components like CPUs, GPUs, and memory, enabling heat removal at coolant temperatures around 45 °C, unlike conventional systems that use chilled water near 18 °C. This eliminates the requirement for chillers and lessens dependence on air-conditioning infrastructure, supporting a stable thermal environment for intensive workloads. Lenovo's sixth-generation Neptune design incorporates vertical liquid-cooling enclosures that rely entirely on liquid cooling, which removes the need for power-intensive fans.

The company has integrated Direct-to-Node warm-water cooling with Rear Door Heat Exchangers and Thermal Transfer Modules in a closed-loop system. This configuration increases cooling efficiency by allowing warm coolant to transfer heat through facility loops for reuse, and works alongside Lenovo’s ThinkSystem and ThinkAgile servers to reduce power consumption while maintaining performance.

“AI adoption in India is accelerating at a pace that demands a different class of infrastructure, one that supports dense compute, manages rising energy pressures, and remains reliable across diverse environments. What makes Lenovo Neptune so unique is not just its ability to remove 100% heat efficiently or reduce power use, but the way it enables customers to plan for long-term AI growth. As organizations move from pilots to production-scale AI, Neptune gives them the headroom, stability, and sustainability they need to build confidently for the future,” said Amit Luthra, Managing Director, Lenovo Infrastructure Solutions Group (ISG), India.

Lenovo’s initiative is part of its commitment to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, with Neptune playing a role in reducing data center power usage. The technology has been deployed in various environments, including supercomputers ranked on Top500 and Green500, as well as facilities managed by research and digital content organizations across Asia Pacific.