Ocean-cooled data centers could slash energy costs by nearly 90%Highlander Digital Technology is taking server cooling literally beneath the seaOffshore wind farms are expected to power 95% of operations sustainably<\/p>\n
China is pushing ahead with a plan that sounds more like science fiction than infrastructure development – building underwater data centers<\/a>.<\/p>\n The move aims to use the ocean\u2019s natural cooling properties to reduce the immense energy required by land-based facilities.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n While the idea seems efficient on paper, it raises questions about long-term feasibility, maintenance, and the practicality of keeping advanced computing systems beneath the sea.<\/p>\n You may like<\/p>\n Cooling with the currents<\/p>\n The move is being led by Beijing-based Highlander Digital Technology, which is preparing to deploy a new series of submerged computing pods off the coast of Shanghai.<\/p>\n These underwater installations are expected to cool high-performance servers using ocean currents rather than the mechanical systems that dominate conventional data centers.<\/p>\n The company claims this could cut cooling-related energy use by roughly 90%.<\/p>\n The project will serve clients, including China Telecom and a state-owned company focused on AI tools<\/a>, aligning with the government\u2019s broader push for greener infrastructure.<\/p>\n Earlier trials off Hainan Island<\/a> reportedly showed this method could save over 122 million kWh of electricity and 105,000 tons of water annually.<\/p>\n Most of the energy powering the Shanghai deployment is expected to come from nearby offshore wind farms, with projections that as much as 95% of its energy will be renewable.<\/p>\n On the surface, it represents an important step in the global effort to reduce the carbon footprint of digital infrastructure, but the practical challenges are still difficult to ignore.<\/p>\n You may like<\/p>\n This is not China\u2019s first experiment, nor is it a completely new concept.<\/p>\n Between 2013 and 2024, Microsoft<\/a> conducted its own underwater trials under \u201cProject Natick\u201d<\/a>, which involved placing sealed server pods off the coast of Scotland.<\/p>\n The project showed that the underwater environment could offer a lower failure rate, about one-eighth of that seen in land-based systems.<\/p>\n Despite these promising results, Microsoft abandoned the entire idea<\/a> in 2024, likely due to the difficulties of hardware upgrades, repairs, and accessibility in such a remote setting.<\/p>\n While the Chinese project could mark a new phase in the evolution of data centers, experts remain cautious.<\/p>\n Some studies suggest that underwater systems might be susceptible to interference or even attacks using sound waves.<\/p>\n Others question the logistics of maintaining colocation provider<\/a> services or replacing failed equipment without costly retrieval operations.<\/p>\n For now, China\u2019s underwater plan shows both ambition and uncertainty – it may offer a glimpse into the next frontier of sustainable computing, or it could simply highlight the limits of what is practical when technology meets the deep sea.<\/p>\n Via The Register<\/a><\/p>\n Follow TechRadar on Google News<\/a> and add us as a preferred source<\/a> to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button!<\/p>\n And of course you can also follow TechRadar on TikTok<\/a> for news, reviews, unboxings in video form, and get regular updates from us on WhatsApp<\/a> too.<\/p>\n