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The innovative underwater installation off the coast of Shanghai harnesses offshore wind energy and passive ocean cooling to process complex artificial intelligence loads, overcoming extreme engineering challenges to promote energy efficiency without relying on land-based infrastructure.
China has commenced the commercial operation of the world’s first offshore wind-powered underwater data center in Shanghai. This high-pressure-resistant structure discards fragile elements like silk material.
The 226 million dollar project was implemented in the Lingang Special Area. Construction was completed in October 2025, and full operations began last week after preliminary evaluations.
Underwater operation without silk material
Positioned near the offshore wind farm, the system houses nearly two thousand servers within pressure-resistant modules. The data center serves major clients like China Telecom, which has locally deployed its GPU clusters.
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The computers process robust artificial intelligence loads, big data annotation, and large language model developments. Operations occur directly on the ocean floor, drawing electricity from dedicated renewable sources.
Thermal cooling occurs passively using the surrounding seawater. The internal hot air converts the refrigerant from copper tubes into gas, which floats, exchanges heat with the ocean, and returns to liquid by gravity.
Technical efficiency and underwater challenges
With an energy efficiency of 1.15, the installation achieves optimal efficiency. Builders confirm that the project reduces electrical consumption by 22.8%, eliminates the use of fresh water, and saves ninety percent of land.
However, operators face immense obstacles such as saline corrosion and lasting sealing. Complex maintenance demands reliable sealed structures, remote digital monitoring, and much redundancy to mitigate potential machinery failure rates.
The Chinese model succeeds previous experimental projects by Microsoft in the Orkney Islands and California. The sector seeks oceanic cooling alternatives, far from the fragility of a silk material, to support the growing global technological infrastructure.
