China launches offshore wind‑powered undersea data center in Shanghai

China has inaugurated the world’s first offshore wind‑powered undersea data centre off Shanghai’s coast, situated about 10 km offshore and 10 m below sea level. The facility houses 192 server racks across four floors, initially delivering 2.3 MW of power with a plan to expand to 24 MW to support AI workloads. It uses seawater cooling, cutting cooling‑related energy use by up to 90% and achieving a power‑usage effectiveness of roughly 1.15. Over 95% of its electricity comes from nearby offshore wind turbines, making the operation nearly carbon‑neutral.

The project is part of China’s broader push to reduce fossil‑fuel reliance for data‑intensive services and to lower the water footprint of data centres, which the United Nations has warned could become massive in the coming decade.