- Ocean-cooled data centers could reduce energy costs by almost 90%
- Highlander Digital Technology Takes Server Cooling Literally Under the Sea
- Offshore wind farms expected to power 95% of operations sustainably
China is pursuing a project that sounds more like science fiction than infrastructure development: building underwater data centers.
The move aims to use the natural cooling properties of the ocean to reduce the immense energy required by land-based facilities.
Although the idea seems effective on paper, it raises questions about the long-term feasibility, maintenance and practicality of maintaining advanced computing systems under the sea.
Cool with the currents
The initiative is led by Beijing-based Highlander Digital Technology, which is preparing to deploy a new series of submerged computing modules off the coast of Shanghai.
These underwater installations are expected to cool high-performance servers using ocean currents rather than the mechanical systems that dominate conventional data centers.
The company says this could reduce cooling-related energy consumption by around 90%.
The project will serve customers including China Telecom and a state-owned company specializing in AI tools, aligning with the government’s broader efforts toward greener infrastructure.
Previous trials off Hainan Island reportedly showed the method would save more than 122 million kWh of electricity and 105,000 tons of water per year.
Most of the energy powering Shanghai’s deployment is expected to come from nearby offshore wind farms, with projections that up to 95% of its energy will be renewable.
On the surface, this represents an important step in the global effort to reduce the carbon footprint of digital infrastructure, but the practical challenges remain hard to ignore.
This is not the first Chinese experience nor a completely new concept.
Between 2013 and 2024, Microsoft conducted its own underwater trials as part of “Project Natick”, which involved placing sealed server modules off the coast of Scotland.
The project showed that the underwater environment could offer a lower failure rate, about one-eighth of that seen in land-based systems.
Despite these promising results, Microsoft abandoned the whole idea in 2024, likely due to the difficulties of hardware upgrade, repair, and accessibility in such a remote environment.
Although the Chinese project could mark a new phase in the evolution of data centers, experts remain cautious.
Some studies suggest that underwater systems could be susceptible to interference or even attacks using sound waves.
Others question the logistics of maintaining colocation provider services or replacing failed equipment without costly salvage operations.
For now, China’s underwater project shows both ambition and uncertainty: It could offer a glimpse of the next frontier in sustainable computing, or it could simply highlight the limits of what’s practical when technology meets the deep sea.
Via The register
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