China unveils pioneering undersea datacentre
The facility is projected to save approximately 122 million kWh of electric power
In a revolutionary move that could redefine the future of datacentre infrastructure, China has successfully assembled the world's first commercial underwater datacentre (UDC) off the coast of Sanya, Hainan province.
The ambitious project, underway since April, aims to use the frigid seawater depths to cool operations and substantially reduce energy consumption.
As the global demand for big data processing, cloud services, and generative AI workloads continues to surge, the datacentre industry is experiencing a construction boom.
Traditional land-based facilities consume vast amounts of land, water for cooling and energy, prompting innovative solutions like China's UDC.
The Hainan Underwater Datacentre project offers multiple advantages, with potential implications for the broader economy.
Firstly, it addresses the issue of land scarcity, saving valuable space that could otherwise be utilised for commercial buildings or housing.
Secondly, the facility is projected to save approximately 122 million kWh of electricity and around 105,000 tons of freshwater annually. The seawater naturally cools the equipment, reducing the need for fresh water as a coolant, a common practice in land-based facilities.
The Hainan UDC project is a collaboration between the government and private firms.
The facility is set to comprise 100 modules by 2025, with each module weighing 1,300 tonnes, equivalent to the weight of approximately 1,000 cars.
China Central Television (CCTV) reported [video] that the assembly of the underwater datacentre began in April, with the recent addition of another data storage module on the seafloor.
Transporting these giant modules to the ocean floor is no small feat, as each unit has to navigate a 35-metre descent, taking around three hours to reach its destination.
While the exact number and specifications of the servers housed within these modules remain undisclosed, CCTV reported that a single module can process over four million high-definition images in just 30 seconds. The cumulative processing power of the upcoming datacentre is estimated to rival that of approximately 6 million regular computers operating in unison.
Each module is designed to endure the harsh underwater conditions for a planned 25-year lifespan.
The collaborative effort behind the revolutionary project involves Sanya officials and several leading Chinese tech firms.
Pu Ding, the general manager of the Hainan UDC project, claimed that once completed, the underwater datacentre should be 40 to 60% more energy-efficient than traditional land-based counterparts.
In 2015, Microsoft pioneered the concept of underwater datacentres by submerging its initial Project Natick datacentre off the US Pacific coast. The initiative involved serving Azure cloud workloads directly from the seabed.
Subsequently, Microsoft conducted a two-year test off the Orkney Islands in Scotland, concluding in 2020. The findings indicated that underwater datacentres enhance the reliability of IT hardware by safeguarding it from oxygen exposure and accidental damage.
Despite these positive outcomes, Microsoft does not seem to have advanced further with its underwater endeavours.