Shanghai Hailanyun Technology
China has built the world’s first wind-powered underwater data center near Shanghai. The ¥1.6 billion (US$226 million) project represents a major advance in sustainable, high-performance computing.
Powered by offshore wind and seabed cooling, the facility cuts power use by 22.8%, eliminates fresh water needs, and reduces land use by over 90%.
Seawater Cooling Slashes Energy Use and Boosts Efficiency
Seawater cooling cuts energy use to under 10%, and Phase 1 hits a PUE of 1.15—above China’s 2025 standard.
The facility goes beyond data storage, supporting AI, 5G, IoT, e-commerce, and international data exchange. In essence, this UDC functions as an eco-friendly, high-performance underwater computing cluster.
The current 2.3-MW installation marks only Phase 1 of the project, with plans to expand capacity to 24 MW in Phase 2, though no timeline has been disclosed.
China Unveils First Large-Scale Wind-Powered UDC
China launched a commercial UDC off Hainan, while the Lin-gang site became the first large-scale wind- and seawater-cooled facility.
Despite the achievement, the technology is still in its infancy. Engineers admit that scaling from this pilot project to full commercial operations will demand further refinement and development. Key concerns include maintenance costs, corrosion, and marine environmental impact.
“UDC construction is still at an early stage,” said Wang Shifeng, chairman of China Communications Construction Company’s Third Harbor Engineering. “Advancing from demonstration to large-scale deployment will require greater technological maturity and cost efficiency.”
In March, the Shanghai municipal government announced plans to expand its intelligent computing cloud industry by over ¥200 billion by 2027, aiming for a total computing capacity of 200 EFLOPS.
Read the original article on: Newatlas
Read more: Scientists Create Color X-Ray Technology