China announced that the first marine data center powered by offshore wind energy has entered the stage of full commercial operation, in a step described as the first of its kind in the world, off the coast of the Lingang Special Area in the city of Shanghai.
The project, worth about $226 million, was launched in June 2025, according to a cooperation agreement between the Administrative Committee of the Lingang Special Zone, the Shanghai Lingang Investment Holding Group, and HiCloud Technology, while other parties such as Shenergy Group, Shanghai Telecom, and CCCC Third Harbor Engineering participated in operating and technical support agreements.
According to those in charge of the project, construction work was completed in October 2025, before full actual operation began last week following an initial trial period.
The underwater data center is located between the first and second phases of the Lingang offshore wind farm, and its system relies on pressure-resistant marine units that include about 2,000 servers, powered directly by energy generated by offshore wind turbines.
The project was also provided with graphics processor clusters (GPU) from Chinese companies, to support artificial intelligence applications, big data analysis, and the development of large language models.
The center relies on seawater as a natural cooling alternative to traditional cooling systems, which reduces the need for energy and fresh water consumption.
The project developers explained that the system is based on a thermal cycle that depends on the transfer of heat between server units and seawater, which contributes to raising operating efficiency and significantly reducing energy consumption.
According to reports, the center achieves a power use efficiency (PUE) index of about 1.15, which is considered among the best in the world compared to traditional data centers, which usually exceed 1.5.
Data indicate that the submarine design contributes to reducing electricity consumption by up to 22.8%, eliminating the need to use fresh water, in addition to reducing land use by more than 90%.
Despite its advantages, this type of data center faces technical challenges, most notably corrosion resulting from salt water, the difficulty of maintaining undersea equipment, and the need for sealed systems and remote monitoring to ensure continuity of operation.
This project comes at a time when the global need for more efficient solutions to operate data centers is increasing, with the growing requirements for artificial intelligence and computing power, making the Chinese experience one of the most prominent future models in this field.
