The world’s first underwater data center using offshore wind energy has opened off the coast of Shanghai. The Lingang data center, launched in May, has a capacity of 24 megawatts. It was developed by HiCloud Technology and China Communications Construction.
The data center is located more than 10 kilometers from the Shanghai coast at a depth of about 10 meters. It gets its electricity from a nearby offshore wind farm. According to Chinese authorities, such a facility consumes more than 20% less energy compared to similar ground-based centers. The reduction in energy consumption is due not only to the use of renewable energy, but also to natural cooling with sea water. In conventional data centers, a significant portion of the electricity—from a quarter to almost half—is spent on cooling the servers. Another problem of traditional data centers is the high consumption of fresh water. Underwater placement can significantly reduce this need.
Recently, the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health warned that global data center water consumption could reach 9.3 trillion liters by 2030, a volume comparable to the annual needs of all residents of sub-Saharan Africa. Earlier, in 2023, HiCloud already opened the first commercial underwater data center off Hainan Island. However, the project in Shanghai was the first to run on offshore wind energy. The center is located next to the Lingang high-tech zone, which is also home to the Tesla Gigafactory.
China is not the first country to test underwater data centers. In 2018, Microsoft began a similar experiment off the Orkney Islands in Scotland. Two years later, the company reported successful results, but the project has not yet received further development. According to Dr. Hanjiang Dong of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Microsoft proved the technical feasibility of the idea, while China was able to move faster to commercial implementation due to a combination of market demand, industrial base and government support. According to official data, investments in the Lingang project amounted to about 1.6 billion yuan.