China Launches World’s First Wind-Powered Underwater Datacentre

As artificial intelligence drives an unprecedented surge in global computing demand, countries and technology firms are racing to build faster, larger, and more sustainable datacentres. China has now taken a major step in that direction by launching the world’s first commercial underwater datacentre powered primarily by offshore wind energy.

The newly operational facility, known as the Shanghai Lingang Undersea Datacentre Demonstration Project, is located around 10 metres beneath the sea surface near Shanghai’s Lingang region — a major technology and industrial hub that also houses Tesla’s Gigafactory. The project officially began operations in May and was jointly developed by Shanghai Hailanyun Technology, also called HiCloud Technology, along with the state-owned China Communications Construction Company.

The underwater datacentre has a computing capacity of 24 megawatts. Although smaller than the giant AI-focused facilities currently being developed globally, the project represents an important proof-of-concept for future sustainable computing infrastructure. Reports suggest the facility cost nearly $225 million to build and was completed in October last year.

China says the underwater setup offers major environmental advantages compared to conventional land-based datacentres. According to Chinese authorities, the facility consumes 22 per cent less electricity while relying on 95 per cent renewable energy generated by a nearby offshore wind farm.

One of the biggest challenges facing datacentres worldwide is cooling. Traditional facilities require enormous quantities of clean water and electricity to prevent servers from overheating. With AI adoption growing rapidly, concerns over resource consumption are becoming more serious.

The underwater design addresses this issue naturally. Since the servers are submerged beneath the ocean, surrounding seawater helps cool the systems efficiently without depending heavily on freshwater resources. Chinese officials claim the project uses more than 90 per cent less water compared to traditional datacentres.

These efficiency gains could become increasingly significant in coming years. According to the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health, datacentres globally may consume up to 9.3 trillion litres of water annually by 2030 — enough to satisfy the yearly domestic water needs of the entire population of sub-Saharan Africa.

Despite the environmental benefits, some experts remain cautious about underwater datacentres. Critics have raised concerns that such projects could disturb seabed ecosystems, shift ocean sediments, or create localised warming in surrounding seawater.

China is not the first country to experiment with underwater computing infrastructure, but it is the first to deploy it commercially. Microsoft had earlier tested a similar concept near Scotland’s Orkney Islands in 2018 under its Project Natick initiative. While the company later reported positive results, the project did not progress into large-scale commercial deployment.

Meanwhile, several global firms are exploring alternative datacentre models. US startup Panthalassa is working on floating underwater computing nodes powered by ocean waves, while Elon Musk’s SpaceX has discussed future space-based datacentre concepts.

India is also entering the race. Indian AI company Sarvam has partnered with satellite firm Pixxel to explore an orbital datacentre initiative aimed at training and operating Indian AI models in space using satellite-based infrastructure.

As demand for AI computing accelerates worldwide, China’s underwater datacentre may offer an early glimpse into how future digital infrastructure could evolve — combining renewable energy, innovative cooling systems, and unconventional deployment strategies to reduce environmental impact.