TotalEnergies will multiply its computing power by six with a new high-performance supercomputer built by Dell and Nvidia, a more than €100 million investment designed to accelerate low-cost energy exploration and AI research. The system, named Pangea 5, represents a significant upgrade of the energy giant's high-performance computing (HPC) capabilities and signals a deeper integration of artificial intelligence into its core operations.
"By increasing our computing power sixfold, we are strengthening our leadership in high-performance computing ensuring that our experts teams continue to have the means to push the envelope to support the development of our activities and meet the growing global demand for energy," said Namita Shah, President of OneTech at TotalEnergies.
The Pangea 5 system, scheduled for commissioning in 2027 at the company's Jean Féger Scientific and Technical Center in Pau, France, will use specialized processors from Nvidia. TotalEnergies expects the new hardware to reduce energy consumption by 40% at equivalent performance levels, with its associated cooling system’s consumption cut by a factor of five. The residual heat generated by the supercomputer will be recovered and used to help heat the facility's buildings.
The move deepens TotalEnergies' reliance on high-performance computing to gain a competitive edge in subsurface imaging, potentially lowering the cost and emissions of hydrocarbon production while also supporting its energy transition goals. For Nvidia and Dell, the contract reinforces their positions as key technology suppliers for industrial-scale AI applications beyond traditional data centers.
A Bet on Accelerated Computing
The primary application for the enhanced processing speed is to expand the deployment of advanced seismic engineering. This will improve the accuracy of subsurface imaging and accelerate exploration to support the company’s strategy for low-cost and low-emission hydrocarbon production. The powerful processing will also support research and development uses of AI and meet growing digital needs to optimize computing times for complex phenomena like integrated power models.
"TotalEnergies is pushing the boundaries of high-performance computing, and we're delighted to be part of that journey," said Adrian McDonald, President of Dell Technologies EMEA. John Josephakis, Vice President of HPC & AI at NVIDIA, added that the choice of NVIDIA GPUs, CPUs, and InfiniBand provides an architecture "capable of meeting the most demanding industrial and energy challenges."
The investment positions TotalEnergies (TTE) to better analyze vast datasets, a critical capability as the energy sector becomes increasingly digitized. The project underscores a broader trend of industrial heavyweights leveraging HPC and AI to optimize legacy operations while exploring new energy models. For technology providers Dell (DELL) and particularly Nvidia (NVDA), which has seen its valuation soar on demand for its AI-enabling chips, such deals are crucial for expanding their enterprise footprint into the energy sector.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
