Japanese conglomerate Itochu has signed a memorandum of understanding with Castrol around liquid cooling.

Itochu Corporation – one of Japan’s largest trading powerhouses – and its system integrator subsidiary Itochu Techno-Solutions (CTC) have signed an MoU with Castrol to accelerate the adoption of liquid cooling for data centers in Japan.

Under the MoU, Castrol will provide data center cooling fluids and related technical services, Itochu will support market development, commercial pathways, and supply from an energy-centered standpoint, and Itochu Techno-Solutions Corporation will deliver end-to-end solutions spanning design, implementation, and operations.

“Across the globe, the rapid adoption of generative AI and high‑performance computing is driving up electricity demand and concentrating unprecedented heat loads in data centers, placing cooling capabilities under significant strain,” the companies said in the announcement.

“This global shift is now reshaping Japan as well, where operators are moving beyond air‑only approaches to accommodate higher rack densities while aligning with national priorities such as improving end‑use efficiency and smoothing demand. In this context, liquid cooling -using electrically insulating fluids - offer a practical solution to remove heat at its source, reduce energy devoted specifically to cooling, increase compute density within existing footprints, and ease the burden on central air‑conditioning systems.”

Originally founded in 1858 as a textiles company, the modern Itochu was formed in 1946 and today operates in textiles, machinery, metals, chemicals, foodstuffs, and IT.

Itochu Techno-Solutions was founded in 1979 as Hamilton/Avnet Electronics Japan Limited, Itochu took over the company in 1985 and took the firm fully private in 2023. Today Techno-Solutions offers network, software, and data center services, and is the main IT partner for the Itochu parent and its other subsidiaries.

On its website, Techno-Solutions has previously said it operates six data centers across Japan in Yokohama (x3), Kobe, Shibuya, and Mejirozaka. It is likely leasing space in most of these after selling five data centers to Stonepeak’s Digital Edge in 2021.

BP-owned Castrol makes a range of liquid cooling fluids, which it has been marketing to customers for several years. Last year, it installed a modular data center at its R&D center in Oxfordshire, UK, to test and demonstrate the efficacy of its products.