China is making waves in the tech world with its plans for a groundbreaking new data center. Get this: they’re setting it up to pack the computing punch of 6 million regular computers! But here’s the kicker—it’s going underwater, off the coast of Sanya city in the South China Sea, and they’re planning to cool it using cold seawater.
The whole setup is pretty ingenious. They’re dividing the facility into waterproof modules and submerging them about 35 meters below the sea’s surface. According to reports from the China Daily via Sciencealert in late November, each module is a heavyweight, tipping the scales at 1,300 tons and housing a bunch of servers.
Together, these modules are expected to churn through a mind-boggling “4 million high-res images every 30 seconds.” And get this, they’re planning to link up a whopping 100 of these modules for the data center. China’s aiming to get this underwater wonder up and running by 2025, and they’re betting it’ll keep swimming along for a cool 25 years.
The really cool part? They’re expecting to save a massive amount of energy—up to 122 megawatt-hours per year—thanks to the natural cooling from the ocean. That’s because they won’t need to use nearly as much energy to keep the place chilled compared to a traditional air conditioning system. Plus, it’s not just about energy.
By going underwater, they’re also saving valuable land space. You see, data centers take up a whole lot of real estate due to their size, so reclaiming that space with these submerged modules is a big win for China.
But, of course, every innovation comes with its challenges. Putting servers in waterproof tanks doesn’t come cheap, and maintenance and repairs? Tricky business. Specialists have to navigate water and dive down 35 meters just to get to the center for fixes. So, while this underwater tech marvel has its perks, it’s not without its hurdles.
