An offshore wind-powered underwater data center off the coast of Shanghai, China, has reached full commercial operations.
– HiCloud
According to recent reports, the data center cost an estimated $226 million to construct, as part of a partnership between the Chinese government and HiCloud Technology, a private engineering contractor specializing in subsea data centers, alongside state-backed telecom providers including China Telecom.
The project has a capacity of 24MW and is located in Shanghai's Lingang Special Area. It was officially launched in June 2025, completed in October, and began full commercial operations last week following successful initial trials in February.
The servers are sealed inside pressure-resistant modules deployed approximately 35 meters (114 feet) below the surface, using the surrounding seawater as a passive cooling system in place of the chillers and HVAC systems typical of land-based facilities. Chinese media reports claim the facility achieves a PUE below 1.15.
