Italian energy behemoth Eni has unveiled the world’s most formidable supercomputer outside the United States, marking a significant leap in the technological race to discover new oil and gas reserves. The €100 million machine, dubbed HPC6, commenced operations in the modest Italian town of Ferrera Erbognone this Christmas.
The supercomputer, equipped with nearly 14,000 AMD graphics processing units, secured the fifth position globally in terms of computing power, achieving an impressive benchmark speed of 477 petaflops per second. Its capabilities are surpassed only by three US research computers and Microsoft’s cloud-based Eagle system.
Lorenzo Fiorillo, who heads Eni’s research and digital department, emphasised that the new system operates at nine times the speed of its predecessor. The company stands apart from its industry peers by maintaining its dedicated computing infrastructure rather than relying on cloud services, a strategy that has become increasingly common among major oil corporations.
The investment has already yielded substantial returns in exploration efficiency. “We were able to find oil in places where we saw nothing,” Fiorillo revealed, highlighting the system’s particular success in navigating the challenging pre-salt layer formations in the South Atlantic.
Beyond fossil fuel exploration, the supercomputer’s capabilities extend into sustainable energy research. The research team now dedicates 70% of its time to clean energy initiatives, including plasma cloud management in nuclear fusion reactors, carbon capture optimisation, and solar panel efficiency improvements.
The strategic positioning of Eni’s data centre in Ferrera Erbognone, situated just over 25 miles south-west of Milan, positions the company advantageously for future expansions, reinforcing its commitment to maintaining technological leadership in the energy sector.
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