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https://reneweconomy.com.au/china-opens-worlds-first-undersea-data-centre-powered-by-offshore-wind-turbines/>
"The world’s first undersea data centre has begun operating off the coast from
Shanghai, powered by a direct offshore wind connection, according to China
state media.
The Shanghai Lingang undersea data centre demonstration project, located 10 kms
off the coast, was built by a subsidiary of China Communications Construction
and combined in its construction offshore engineering, renewable energy, and an
AI-focused digital infrastructure.
Chinese officials told the English-language state-run outlet
China Daily that
the project could serve as a potential template for next-generation computing
systems.
Global data centre capacity – measured in megawatts or gigawatts to represent
total continuous power available to run at maximum power – is forecast to
nearly double to 200 GW by 2030, growth that is expected to require up to $US3
trillion in investment over the remainder of the decade.
Demand for data centre capacity is being driven primarily by the artificial
intelligence (AI) industry, but both data centres and AI in particular are
hugely power-hungry beasts.
This does not even take into consideration the physical resources that are used
to supply these industries, such as raw materials for data centre components,
energy usage, land use, and water for cooling.
Which is why the launch of the Shanghai Lingang undersea data centre could mark
a potential sea change.
According to Chinese state media, the underwater 24 MW data centre is able to
use seawater as a natural cooling source, circulating through a copper-pipe
heat exchange design that reduces electricity consumption by 22.8 per cent and
eliminates freshwater use entirely.
Tsinghua University Professor Li Zhen told
China Daily that conventional data
centres generally use around one-third of their total electricity consumption
on cooling systems.
“For an undersea data center of the same scale, the electricity used for
cooling would only account for about one-tenth of total power consumption,” Li
said.
“If data centers of the same scale were placed underwater, even allowing extra
margins, cooling consumption could fall to around 30 billion kWh. That would
save about 50 billion kWh of electricity each year.”"
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*** Xanni ***
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mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
