China has inaugurated a groundbreaking green computing initiative with the launch of the Shanghai Lingang Underwater Data Center (UDC), the world’s first commercial subsea data facility powered entirely by renewable offshore wind energy. The 1.6 billion yuan ($222.7 million) project, located in the coastal waters of Shanghai’s Lin-gang Special Area, represents a major advancement in sustainable digital infrastructure, combining underwater cooling with clean energy to achieve unprecedented energy efficiency.
The innovative two-phase project will deploy modular data units cooled by natural seawater and powered by adjacent offshore wind farms, achieving a remarkable power usage effectiveness (PUE) below 1.15. Phase one, a 2.3 MW demonstration facility recognized as a national model by China’s National Development and Reform Commission, will become operational in September 2024. The full-scale 24 MW deployment will source over 90% of its power from renewable sources, reducing energy consumption by 30-40% compared to traditional land-based data centers while eliminating carbon emissions.
This ambitious undertaking builds on China’s successful Hainan UDC experiment, which has operated flawlessly at 30-meter depths since December 2022, processing data equivalent to 30,000 high-end PCs working simultaneously. The Shanghai project represents a significant upgrade, integrating wind power to create what developers call a “2.0 version” of green computing infrastructure. The facility’s seawater cooling system slashes refrigeration energy use from 40-50% of total consumption to under 10%, while its offshore location conserves valuable coastal land resources.
Beyond its environmental benefits, the Lingang UDC will serve as a cornerstone for China’s digital economy, supporting AI development, 5G networks, industrial IoT, and cross-border e-commerce. The project aligns with China’s national computing power goals, which aim to increase aggregate computing capacity by 30% to 300 EFLOPS by 2025. As global demand for sustainable computing solutions surges, Shanghai’s pioneering integration of marine technology and renewable energy sets a new benchmark for the future of green data infrastructure.
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