China launches world's first submarine data center powered by offshore wind

China has put into operation the world’s first underwater data centre, located about 10 km off Shanghai’s coast at a depth of roughly 10 m. The pilot facility draws 24 MW directly from a nearby offshore wind farm via fibre‑optic cables, supplying enough power for around 20,000 homes.

The submerged modules use seawater for natural cooling, eliminating the need for conventional air‑conditioning and freshwater consumption. Tested efficiencies show more than a 20 % reduction in energy use compared with land‑based centres and a 90 % decrease in land‑area requirement. The project, a collaboration between Chinese tech firms and state partners, is aimed at meeting the rising AI‑related computing demand while cutting carbon emissions. Professor Li Zhen of Tsinghua University estimates that large‑scale adoption could save tens of billions of kilowatt‑hours annually. Environmental monitoring will assess potential impacts on the marine ecosystem.