China Launches World's First Underwater Data Centre
Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - China has launched the world’s first underwater data centre powered directly by offshore wind energy. The facility is touted as a breakthrough to meet the surge in AI computing demand while reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions.
According to China Daily, the Shanghai Lingang underwater data centre demonstration project will commence operations in May 2026 in the East Shanghai offshore waters. The facility, built by a subsidiary of China Communications Construction, integrates offshore engineering, renewable energy, and AI-based digital infrastructure technologies.
Located approximately 10 kilometres off the Lingang coast in Shanghai, the project has a rated capacity of 24 megawatts, sufficient to power around 20,000 households.
The project’s key advantage is its ‘direct offshore wind connection’ model. Electricity generated from offshore wind farms is transmitted directly to the underwater data centre modules via subsea photovoltaic composite cables, bypassing conventional power grids.
Additionally, the system uses seawater for natural cooling via a circulating copper pipe heat exchange design, reducing electricity consumption by 22.8%, eliminating freshwater use entirely, and cutting land use by over 90%.
This data centre’s operation comes amid surging AI computing demand in China. Shanghai has emerged as one of the country’s largest AI development hubs, hosting companies in AI model development, autonomous vehicles, biotechnology, fintech, and advanced manufacturing.
Meanwhile, data centre energy demands remain a global challenge. Modern AI infrastructure requires substantial electricity, particularly for cooling systems, which have historically been a major energy consumer.
Professor Li Zhen of Tsinghua University explained that conventional data centres typically allocate about a third of their electricity consumption to cooling.
‘For an underwater data centre of similar scale, the electricity used for cooling would only account for around one-tenth of total power consumption,’ said Li, according to China Daily on Monday, 1 June 2026.
He noted that China’s data centres currently consume around 250 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, with approximately 80 billion kWh dedicated to cooling.
‘If such a data centre were placed underwater, even accounting for additional margins, cooling consumption could drop to around 30 billion kWh,’ he added.
‘This would save approximately 50 billion kWh of electricity annually,’ he said.
Professor Li estimated that this saving is equivalent to reducing the burning of about 15 million tonnes of standard coal annually, potentially significantly cutting carbon emissions.
The development of this underwater data centre also demonstrates China’s new strategy for AI-era infrastructure, integrating energy, cooling, and computing systems into a unified ecosystem.
According to Li, China, long recognised as the world’s largest manufacturing hub, is now building the foundations for next-generation infrastructure to support AI growth, particularly in coastal regions facing land, electricity, and freshwater constraints.