China launches first wind‑powered undersea data centre off Shanghai

China has inaugurated the world’s first commercial undersea data centre powered entirely by offshore wind energy. The Shanghai Lingang demonstration project, a joint effort by HiCloud Technology and state‑owned China Communications Construction, is located about 10 km off the Shanghai coast, submerged 10 m beneath the sea surface, and has a capacity of 24 megawatts.

The facility cuts overall energy use by more than one‑fifth compared with land‑based centres, largely because seawater provides natural cooling. It also eliminates fresh‑water consumption, a major concern for traditional data centres that rely on water‑cooled towers. The Chinese government has invested roughly 1.6 billion yuan (≈ US$177 million) in the project, linking the venture to its national AI strategy and broader goals to increase clean‑energy supply for AI infrastructure by 2030. While experts note potential ecological impacts such as sediment disturbance, they say the benefits for energy efficiency and water savings justify further monitoring.