¡La primera en el mundo! China pone en marcha un "centro de datos submarino" de energía eólica: eficiencia energética de 1.15, sin consumo de agua para afrontar la ola de potencia de IA

China today (10th) officially activated the world's first underwater data center (UDC) powered by "offshore wind power" near Shanghai's coast.
This technological marvel is submerged 10 meters underwater, with an initial capacity of 24 MW, utilizing seawater for natural cooling, and maintaining a top-tier Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) of under 1.15.
Against the backdrop of artificial intelligence (AI) computing power causing a surge in global electricity demand, this project successfully achieved 100% waterless operation and a 90% land savings in a green transformation.
(Background summary: How to invest in the AI gold rush? CZ Zhao Changpeng: The first choice is electricity and data centers, but 80% of funds still heavily favor Web3)
(Additional background: WSJ: Google secretly meets with SpaceX to discuss advancing "Orbital AI Data Centers," Elon Musk's fleet of millions of satellites prepares for an epic IPO)

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• Seawater natural cooling: saving 100% water and 90% land
• 100% direct supply from wind power: green electricity surpassing 95%
• US-China AI infrastructure war: energy strategies behind green transformation

As generative artificial intelligence (AI) and large language models experience explosive growth, traditional onshore data centers are facing an unprecedented "power and cooling crisis." According to foreign media WIRED, a super green infrastructure jointly invested by private enterprise HiCloud Technology and state-owned China Communications Construction Group, totaling 1.6 billion yuan (about 236 million USD), has officially been activated in the Shanghai Lingang special zone near the coast.
This is not only a major breakthrough in the tech industry but also the world's first commercial demonstration project that perfectly combines "underwater data centers (UDC)" with "offshore wind power generation."

The project was actually completed in mid-October 2025, and after several months of rigorous testing, it officially went into operation today. The data center is submerged about 10 meters below the sea surface, with an initial computing capacity of 24 MW.

Seawater natural cooling: saving 100% water and 90% land

The core technological advantage of this underwater data center lies in thoroughly overturning the traditional server cooling logic.
On land, large cooling systems often account for 40% to 50% of total electricity consumption, but this UDC directly uses cold seawater as a natural cooling system, drastically reducing cooling energy requirements to below 10%.

This revolutionary design creates extremely impressive environmental and economic benefits.
According to official data, compared to similarly scaled traditional onshore data centers:

• The overall energy consumption of this center has been reduced by 22.8%.
• Water used for server cooling has been reduced by 100%, achieving complete water neutrality.
• Since there is no need to build server rooms in densely populated urban areas, land occupation has been reduced by over 90%.

With multiple green indicators supporting it, the first phase of this center successfully kept its energy efficiency (PUE) under 1.15 (the closer PUE is to 1.0, the higher the efficiency), reaching a top standard in the global data center industry.

100% direct supply from wind power: green electricity surpassing 95%

In fact, HiCloud Technology had already established the world's first commercial underwater data center in Hainan in 2023, also using seawater cooling technology.
However, the biggest evolution of the new base in Shanghai's Lingang is that its power supply is entirely reliant on "offshore wind power," providing over 95% of pure green electricity to the underwater servers around the clock, perfectly realizing the zero-carbon computing vision.

This design is also closely linked to recent reforms in China's electricity market.
Since June 2025, China's wind and solar power have fully entered the electricity market trading, significantly optimizing clean energy asset allocation.
The underwater data center is directly connected to offshore wind grids, not only solving the issue of green electricity absorption but also providing a highly stable and low-cost power source for high-density AI chips.

US-China AI infrastructure war: energy strategies behind green transformation

According to a recent United Nations report, China and the US currently account for about 90% of the world's AI-specific data center infrastructure.
In the context of US restrictions on advanced chip exports and attempts to block China's AI development, breaking through energy bottlenecks through "green infrastructure innovation" has become a key geopolitical contest.

Analysts believe that the activation of Shanghai's wind-powered underwater data center is not only driven by environmental considerations but also part of China's overall "energy self-sufficiency" and "technological autonomy" strategic layout.
By expanding investments in renewable energy and nuclear power infrastructure, China is trying to free itself from dependence on fossil fuels while establishing a safety net capable of supporting the next generation of AI's intense computing needs, thus further consolidating its leading position in the global digital economy race.