UK’s £750m supercomputer milestone as turf cut in Edinburgh

^{Above: an artist's impression of what the new supercomputer site will look like when it is finished next autumn. Image by Sheppard Robson.}

The UK’s next National Supercomputer – owned by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and hosted at the University of Edinburgh – is set to empower world-changing discoveries in globally significant fields such as aircraft engineering, extreme weather events and drug discovery for cancer.

The machine – made possible by an investment of up to £750 million from the UK Government – marks a step-change in the country’s compute power and will cement the UK’s status as a leader in supercomputing, which experts agree is critical to driving economic growth.

The new machine is expected to have thousands of the latest processers, allowing it to deliver at least a billion-billion calculations per second, up from the 20 million-billion calculations per second delivered by ARCHER2, the current national supercomputer.

Supercomputing benefits

At around fifty times more powerful than ARCHER2, the new system will be able to carry out incredibly complex calculations in hours rather than days, and solve much larger problems than ever before. This will help make today’s impossible calculations possible.

ARCHER2 – also housed at the University of Edinburgh – aided Covid-19 drug-discovery, empowered firms like Rolls-Royce to improve aircraft engine efficiency and sustainability, and has enabled engineers to make wind farms more efficient.

Supercomputing also allows researchers to model flood risks for communities, understand changes in our ocean temperatures, and simulate earthquakes – challenges that are simply unfeasible or prohibitively costly to do in the real-world. 

A recent independent report showed that ARCHER2 generated £8 per £1 invested, enabling more than £4.2bn in benefits for the UK economy.

The University of Edinburgh was chosen as the new supercomputer’s home in recognition of EPCC’s leadership in high performance computing for more than 30 years. The University has been the home of AI research in Europe for six decades, with EPCC recently formally designated the first UK National Supercomputing Centre.

Sustainability

Having the supercomputer sited in Scotland has been a benefit to sustainability concerns thanks to its cooler air, with nature offering a simple solution to cool the system, combined with leading-edge cooling technology reducing the energy required.

Environmental considerations are at the forefront of the new supercomputer’s design, which will be more efficient than existing models, with surplus heat generated being used to warm University buildings and research planned to assess if it could also be used to warm local homes, by warming mine-water in disused mines. 

ARCHER2 is already designated as net zero in operation, thanks to its use of 100% green certified electricity. The current supercomputing facility estimates that it runs with the same water usage as three typical households.

Site demolition has been kept to a minimum to reduce environmental impacts and a number of sustainability projects are planned with the construction team, including tree planting, protecting ancient trees, and conservation projects for local wildlife.

Construction work on the building, which is around the size of a supermarket, is being carried out by Robertson Construction Central East.

“Today’s milestone in Edinburgh marks a decisive step in delivering our Compute Roadmap - building the sovereign computing power Britain needs to stay in control of its future in AI and science.

“For decades, Edinburgh has been at the heart of world-leading supercomputing. This new machine takes that further – making sure UK researchers, businesses and innovators have the cutting-edge power they need here in the UK, rather than relying on others.

“This is what will unlock the next generation of breakthroughs – from training more powerful AI systems to accelerating scientific discovery and creating new products and high-growth businesses. It is our Industrial Strategy in action, turning British ideas into the jobs and industries of the future.”
UK AI Minister Kanishka Narayan

“It is an honour for the University to be trusted to host this essential piece of UK infrastructure, and a testament to the hard work of everyone involved to help make this happen. It is clear that this investment will strengthen UK science and with our track record in supercomputing, Edinburgh is perfectly placed to host this.”
Professor Sir Peter Mathieson, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Edinburgh

“The commencement of construction in Edinburgh marks a pivotal moment for the UK’s scientific infrastructure. We are providing the UK’s brightest minds with the 'industrial-scale' tools required to solve society’s most complex challenges, from decoding the next generation of life-saving medicines to engineering a net-zero future. This £750m investment isn't just about speed; it’s about economic growth, and ensuring the UK remains the premier destination for global innovation."
Garth Wells, Deputy Executive Chair, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council at UKRI

Further information

Find out more about the new Supercomputer here: https://www.ed.ac.uk/supercomputing

In this video, Professor Mark Parsons explains how supercomputing helps to power our everyday lives.