China Plunges Into Renewable Tech By Dunking A Data Center In The Ocean

by Aaron Leong — Wednesday, October 29, 2025, 11:21 AM EDT

Off the coast of Shanghai, a revolutionary structure is forming beneath the waves: the world’s first wind-powered, commercial-scale underwater data center (UDC). Basically, submerging servers in pressure-resistant pods (similar to Microsoft's non-commercial Project Natick in 2018) is a direct response to the escalating power and cooling demands of data centers, which can consume millions of gallons of water daily just for cooling. In theory, this project (and ones like this) is a great solution to a large operational hurdle, but some experts are warning about the thermal effects on the ocean.

Traditional, land-based data centers expend up to half of their total energy consumption battling the heat generated by constantly running servers, relying on expensive and water-intensive air conditioning and cooling towers. By contrast, the UDC—located off the coast of the Lin-Gang Special Area of China Pilot Free Trade Zone (say that five times really fast)—solves that problem by using surrounding seawater as a constant, natural coolant. Cold ocean currents circulate through external heat exchangers, passively absorbing the server heat and reducing the energy demand for cooling to less than 10% of the total power use. This process not only cuts overall power consumption by an estimated 22.8% but also eliminates the use of freshwater entirely for cooling, a critical benefit in land-locked centers facing water scarcity.

lingang udc render — *UDC supplemented by wind farm (Click to enlarge)*

Furthermore, the facility has been designed to be powered almost entirely by offshore wind energy, drawing over 95% of its electricity from nearby wind farms. This fusion of subsea cooling and renewable energy creates an unusually low Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) rating, placing it well ahead of most land-based facilities. The $226 million initiative intends on supporting high-performance computing, AI workloads, and 5G network infrastructure, all while reducing its physical footprint by over 90% compared to a terrestrial center.

However, sinking a high-capacity computing cluster presents its own set of challenges. Engineers had to devise solutions to prevent corrosion from saltwater, leading to the use of protective coatings with glass flakes on the steel capsules. Possibly of great concern comes from marine ecologists who are worried about the impact of thermal pollution—the warm water discharged back into the ocean from the UDC—and how a scaled-up deployment could affect localized marine ecosystems. While proponents cite studies showing minimal temperature increases, critics urge more extensive research before wide-scale deployment.

Based on the report (via Wired), the Lin-Gang Special Area UDC has just completed construction, sits 35 meters underwater, and will have 24 megawatts of capacity.