10m under sea, a unique datacentre springs to life

Agencies SHANGHAI

The world’s first wind-powered underwater datacentre has started operations off the coast of Shanghai, as China presses forward with solutions for energy challenges created by the country’s artificial intelligence boom.

The Shanghai Lingang undersea datacentre demonstration project, which launched in May, has a capacity of 24 megawatts. It is a joint effort between HiCloud Technology and China Communications Construction, a state-owned company.

Located more than 6 miles (10km) off the coast of Shanghai, the datacentre is submerged 10 metres below the surface of the water and is powered by a nearby offshore wind farm. According to the Chinese government, the datacentre reduces power consumption by more than 20% compared with land-based datacentres.

That is because, as well as being powered by renewable energy, its overall energy demands are lower because of the natural cooling effect that comes from being submerged in seawater.