China Launches World’s First Offshore Wind-Powered Undersea Data Center
China has begun operating what is described as the world’s first undersea data center directly powered by offshore wind energy, marking a new approach to combining renewable power and digital infrastructure for artificial intelligence workloads.
The project, known as the Shanghai Lingang undersea data center demonstration project, is located about 10 kilometres off the coast of Shanghai in the Lingang area and officially started operations in May 2026. It was developed by a subsidiary of China Communications Construction Company.
The facility has a planned capacity of 24 megawatts and is designed to support approximately 20,000 households’ equivalent energy demand. Its core innovation is a direct offshore wind connection system, where electricity generated by nearby offshore wind farms is transmitted via subsea composite cables directly to submerged data modules.
The system also uses seawater for cooling through a circulating heat exchange design, significantly reducing energy consumption. Developers report that the configuration cuts electricity use by about 22.8%, eliminates freshwater consumption, and reduces land use by more than 90% compared with conventional data centers.
According to Li Zhen, a professor at Tsinghua University, traditional data centers can use roughly one-third of their electricity for cooling systems, whereas underwater facilities may reduce that share to about one-tenth.
He stated: “For an undersea data center of the same scale, the electricity used for cooling would only account for about one-tenth of total power consumption.”
The project reflects China’s broader push to address rising energy demands from artificial intelligence and high-performance computing, while improving energy efficiency and reducing emissions.
Industry observers note that the model could become increasingly relevant in coastal regions where land, power, and water constraints limit traditional data center expansion.
Source: chinadaily.com.cn
