DKRZ

What DKRZ does

DKRZ (Deutsches Klimarechenzentrum GmbH) is the German national climate computing center, established in 1987 and headquartered at Bundesstraße 45a in Hamburg on the University of Hamburg campus near the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology. It is structured as a private limited company (GmbH) owned by four institutional shareholders — the Max Planck Society, the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (via the University of Hamburg), the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI), and the Helmholtz Center Hereon — and is jointly funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), the Helmholtz Association, the Max Planck Society, and Hamburg. Its mandate is to operate as a national service facility providing high-performance computing, large-scale data management, and scientific support to German and international climate and Earth-system researchers. Approximately 80 specialized staff deliver HPC operations, model-code optimization, data archiving, visualization, and increasingly AI/ML adaptation.

The center's technical core is a sequence of supercomputer generations: Blizzard (2009, 158 TeraFLOPS), Mistral (2015, ~3 PetaFLOPS, Atos/Bull), and the current Levante (HLRE-4, 2022, 14 PetaFLOPS, Atos BullSequana XH2000 with 2,832 AMD EPYC nodes, 800+ TB main memory, a 130 PB DDN storage system, and a 60-node NVIDIA A100 GPU partition). The compute stack is paired with a climate data archive exceeding 250 petabytes — among the world's largest — served via the Earth System Grid Federation and underpinning CMIP5/CMIP6 contributions to IPCC assessments. DKRZ co-developed the ICON climate and weather model (open-sourced in January 2024 with DWD, MPI-M, KIT, ETH Zurich, MeteoSchweiz) and the YAC coupling software, and since 2023 has hosted the WCRP Earth System Modelling and Observations (ESMO) International Project Office.

Commercially, DKRZ is not a market-facing entity: it provides compute allocations, data services, and consulting to academic and institutional users primarily through research-project and shareholder-channel allocations, with no public pricing. Revenue mechanics are dominated by multi-year government and Helmholtz/Max Planck funding, supplemented by major capital tranches for supercomputer procurement (€41M for Mistral; €45M for Levante). Distribution is "sales-led" only in the limited sense of institution-to-institution partnerships (MPI-M, DWD, ESGF nodes, WCRP); marketing reaches researchers through scientific publications, conferences (ISC, SC), press relations, a newsletter, LinkedIn/YouTube, and school outreach including the Monash Simple Climate Model web tool.

Name

DKRZ

Legal name

Deutsche Klimarechenzentrum GmbH

Website

https://dkrz.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

1987

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

DKRZ is Germany's national climate computing center (GmbH, est. 1987, Hamburg) operating petascale supercomputers and a 250+ PB data archive for German and international climate and Earth-system researchers, funded by BMBF, Helmholtz Association, Max Planck Society, and Hamburg.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Climate Research High-Performance Computing Infrastructure

NAICS

Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (51821), Scientific Research and Development Services (5417)

SIC

Services-Computer Processing & Data Preparation (7374)

akta.pro primary industry

Scientific Data Management & Data Platforms (SDMS/Data Lakehouse for R&D) (HLAGAJAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Document Management Systems (DMS) (HDAEAGAA)

Keywords

• Climate research computing
• High-performance computing services
• Climate data archiving
• Earth system modeling
• Scientific supercomputing

Headquarters

HQ city

Hamburg

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Operations

Revenue model

1. Government Research Funding: DKRZ is funded as a national service facility by federal ministries (BMBF), the Helmholtz Association, the Max Planck Society, and the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg. Funding covers acquisition and operation of HPC systems, infrastructure, and staff.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

DKRZ provides high-performance computing platforms, large-scale data storage, and specialized scientific support services for climate and Earth system research. As Germany's national climate computing center, it offers petascale supercomputers (Levante HLRE-4 at 14 PetaFLOPS) with 130+ petabytes of storage, model code optimization, long-term data archiving, data publication and distribution via ESGF, AI/ML support, and visualization, serving climate researchers, weather services, and international collaborative projects such as CMIP/IPCC.

Product overview

DKRZ (Deutsches Klimarechenzentrum) operates as a national service facility providing high-performance computing infrastructure for climate and Earth system research. The core offering centers on supercomputing systems (Levante, Mistral) offering petascale computing power combined with massive data storage (250+ PB archive). Supporting services include climate simulation execution, model code optimization, data management (archiving, distribution, publication), visualization, and AI/ML support. DKRZ co-developed the ICON climate modeling framework, now open source. Educational offerings include the Monash Simple Climate Model for teaching purposes.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Levante Supercomputer (HLRE-4) DKRZ's current flagship supercomputer, delivering petascale HPC capacity for high-resolution climate and Earth system simulations. Built on Atos BullSequana XH2000 technology with NVIDIA A100 GPU acceleration and InfiniBand HDR 200G interconnect, it serves climate researchers from German and international research institutions conducting CMIP-class and IPCC-relevant modeling work.
• Mistral Supercomputer (HLRE-3) Third-generation DKRZ supercomputer (HLRE-3), predecessor to Levante, delivered through Atos/Bull and operational from 2015 at 3 PetaFLOPS peak with 50 PB storage. Served as Germany's primary climate HPC platform during the CMIP6/IPCC AR6 era until superseded by Levante.
• Blizzard Supercomputer Second-generation DKRZ supercomputer, operational from 2009 at 158 TeraFLOPS. Predecessor to Mistral, used for IPCC-scale climate calculations during CMIP3 and the early CMIP5 era.
• Climate Data Archive (Datenarchiv) One of the world's largest dedicated climate data archives, managing over 250 petabytes of climate simulation data with long-term preservation, publication, and global distribution via the Earth System Grid Federation (ESGF). Supports CMIP3, CMIP5, and CMIP6 dataset hosting for IPCC AR4, AR5, and AR6 assessments.
• Compute Time Provisioning (CPUtime) Core service providing research institutions with allocated compute time on DKRZ's supercomputers. Access is granted through project allocations, consortium computing (Konsortialrechnungen), and institutional affiliations with Max Planck Society, Helmholtz Association, University of Hamburg, and German/international climate research institutions.
• Long-Term Data Archiving (Langzeitarchivierung) Managed long-term archiving service for climate research data, ensuring preservation and retrievability of simulation outputs across multiple decades. Underpins DKRZ's role as a primary CMIP data node and contributor to IPCC assessment data workflows.
• Data Publication and Distribution Services covering the publication, provisioning, and global distribution of climate research data via the Earth System Grid Federation (ESGF), making CMIP-class and other climate datasets available to researchers worldwide for IPCC assessments and other international collaborations.
• Scientific Consulting and Model Code Optimization Specialized consulting and code-optimization services for climate model developers, including parallelization, performance tuning, and adaptation of model code for DKRZ's supercomputer architectures. Supports researchers working with ICON and other climate and Earth system models.
• Scientific Visualization Services Data visualization services for climate research and public communication, including the Klimaglobus (climate globe) and other visual representations of climate simulation results. Serves both research users and science-communication/outreach purposes.
• AI / Machine Learning Services Support for AI and machine learning workflows in climate research, including adaptation of ML pipelines for heterogeneous CPU/GPU hardware architectures on Levante and integration of AI methods into climate modeling.
• ICON Model System Open-source climate and weather modeling framework (ICON) covering atmosphere, ocean (ICON-O), land biosphere, hydrology, marine biogeochemistry, and atmospheric chemistry (ICON-ART), co-developed by DKRZ with DWD, MPI-M, KIT, MeteoSchweiz, and ETH Zurich. Published under open source license for weather forecasting and Earth system research.
• Monash Simple Climate Model (MSCM) Web Interface Web-based interactive simplified climate model (MSCM) hosted by DKRZ, based on the GREB global energy balance model, allowing interactive experimentation with over 1,000 precomputed climate experiments. Aimed at students, teachers, and researchers studying climate dynamics on standard PCs.

Quantifiable outcome

• 5.5x general data reduction and up to 20x for software development environments through VAST AI Operating System
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• VAST DatacoreTechnology or Integration · 26 June 2026VAST Data deployed its AI Operating System at DKRZ to modernize the high-performance computing environment for climate research. The deployment has achieved approximately 5.5x general data reduction and up to 20x or more for software development environments, enabling more usable capacity without adding hardware.
• German Meteorological Service (DWD)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 31 January 2024DWD collaborated with MPI-M and DKRZ to develop ICON as an atmospheric and weather forecasting model, now used operationally in Germany and Switzerland. DWD and MPI-M initially developed ICON jointly.
• Max Planck Institute for Meteorology (MPI-M)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 31 January 2024MPI-M is a key co-developer of the ICON model system and primary research user of DKRZ HPC systems. Together with DKRZ, MPI-M developed the YAC coupling software component and GPU-efficient ICON versions.
• Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 31 January 2024KIT developed the ICON-ART component for aerosols and atmospheric chemistry modeling, contributing to the open-source ICON ecosystem. KIT also supports DKRZ's research software engineering efforts for GPU-based HPC systems.
• ETH Zurich / C2SM (Center for Climate Systems Modeling)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 31 January 2024ETH Zurich and MeteoSwiss partner through C2SM to develop GPU-efficient ICON versions and collaborate on climate modeling infrastructure with DKRZ and MPI-M.
• MeteoSchweiz (Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 31 January 2024Swiss national weather service co-develops ICON model and collaborates through C2SM with ETH Zurich and DKRZ for efficient climate and weather modeling on supercomputers.
• World Climate Research Program (WCRP) - ESMOcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 2 May 2023WCRP opened its Earth System Modelling and Observations (ESMO) International Project Office at DKRZ on May 1, 2023, to coordinate global climate modeling, data assimilation, and observation activities. The office is under leadership of the ESMO Scientific Steering Group with oversight from the WCRP Joint Scientific Committee.
• NVIDIAcoreTechnology or Integration · 3 March 2022NVIDIA provides A100 graphics processing units (GPUs) for Levante's GPU partition, with 60 GPU nodes delivering 2.8 PetaFLOPS peak performance for AI-assisted climate workflows and accelerated computing.
• DDN (Data Direct Networks)coreTechnology or Integration · 1 March 2021DDN provided the 130 Petabyte storage system for the Levante supercomputer, more than doubling the previous storage capacity to support large-scale climate simulation data storage and analysis.
• Atos (Bull)coreTechnology or Integration · 18 November 2020Atos (through its Bull brand) delivered the Levante supercomputer (HLRE-4) based on BullSequana XH2000 technology, increasing computing power by a factor of 5 compared to the predecessor Mistral. The five-year contract covers delivery, service, and support of the supercomputer system.
• Atos (Bull)coreTechnology or Integration · 5 October 2015Bull (now Atos) delivered the Mistral supercomputer (HLRE-3), one of the most powerful and energy-efficient supercomputers for climate simulations worldwide, 20 times faster than its predecessor, with 3 PetaFLOPS peak performance.
• IBMcoreTechnology or Integration · 8 May 2015IBM provides data analytics technology and High Performance Storage System (HPSS) software to manage DKRZ's climate simulation data archive, supporting up to 500 Petabytes of climate data as one of the world's largest climate data archives.
• Seagate (Xyratex)coreTechnology or Integration · 25 June 2014Seagate (through Xyratex) provides ClusterStor storage solutions for DKRZ's large-scale data archive, enabling 45 Petabyte storage capacity with high energy efficiency and throughput for climate data management.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves12 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• NCAR (National Center for Atmospheric Research): NCAR operates the U.S. equivalent of DKRZ — a national center providing supercomputing, data archival, and model support for atmospheric and climate research — including the Cheyenne/Peregrine systems and the CESM/Community Earth System Model. Most directly comparable peer in mission, scale, and funding model.
• Pawsey Supercomputing Centre (Australia): Pawsey is Australia's national HPC facility serving astronomy, climate, and other research domains with Setonix (HPE Cray EX) infrastructure. Comparable as a publicly funded national HPC center for academic research with climate-relevant workloads, scaled smaller than DKRZ but analogous in mission.
• ECMWF (European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts): ECMWF is the European intergovernmental weather/climate modeling center operating petaflop-scale supercomputers in Bologna and Bonn for IFS model runs and Copernicus data. Directly comparable as a mission-aligned, internationally funded HPC center serving weather and climate science, with overlapping partners (DWD, MPI-M).
• UK Met Office (and Met Office Hadley Centre): The UK Met Office runs its own climate and weather modeling HPC (Cray/ HPE systems) and produces the Hadley Centre climate models — directly comparable to DKRZ as a government-backed weather/climate computing center, although it is also a forecasting agency rather than a pure HPC service provider.
• MeteoSwiss (Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology): MeteoSwiss is a co-developer of the ICON model (the same model DKRZ helps operate) and runs operational weather forecasting and climate research on its own HPC. Comparable in domain and a direct ICON collaboration partner.
• Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC): BSC operates the MareNostrum supercomputers for the Spanish and European research community, including major climate and earth-system modeling workloads. Directly comparable as a publicly funded national supercomputing center with a domain focus on earth sciences.
• SNIC / PDC (Swedish National Infrastructure for Computing / PDC Center for High Performance Computing): PDC, hosted by KTH, operates Sweden's national HPC infrastructure for academic climate and engineering research as part of SNIC. Comparable to DKRZ as a national-scale HPC center serving university and institutional users with government funding.
• CINECA (Italian Computing Consortium): CINECA is Italy's national HPC facility operating Leonardo (one of the world's top supercomputers) for academic and institutional users across Europe. Comparable as a publicly funded national HPC center providing large-scale compute and data services to research consortia.
• CSC (IT Center for Science, Finland): CSC operates Finland's national HPC and data management infrastructure (LUMI supercomputer, Allas storage) for academic and climate researchers, with a comparable funding/governance model (state + research council ownership) and similar service portfolio. Closest European national-HPC analogue.

Regional players

• Jülich Supercomputing Centre (JSC): JSC operates JUWELS and other Helmholtz Association supercomputers in Germany — a regional peer within the same funding ecosystem (Helmholtz) as DKRZ. Comparable in service offering but with broader cross-disciplinary scope rather than a climate focus.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat7 records

Key risks12 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/c/DeutschesKlimarechenzentrum/videos
• LinkedInde.linkedin.com/company/deutsches-klimarechenzentrum

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about DKRZ