China launches construction of its first commercial undersea data center! How to prevent corrosion is the key issue

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It is reported that the Chinese company HiSilicon is building a server module near Shanghai, which will be submerged underwater to reduce energy consumption for cooling systems. According to The South China Morning Post, the servers will operate on a commercial basis, with government agencies such as China Telecom being among the first customers. This is not the first underwater data center project; Microsoft already conducted its own experiments off the coast of Scotland in 2024. Although Microsoft stated that it gained a lot of experience from this project, it did not commercialize the system. On the other hand, in 2023, China launched a self-developed diving project in Hainan, which has been ongoing ever since. The Shanghai facility will become the second diving center in the country, as well as the first one to be open to customers. The main advantage of using seawater to cool data centers is the significant reduction in cooling costs. "Underwater operations have irreplaceable advantages, said Ye Yan, vice president of Highland Company, to the Morning Post. He also said that this move would reduce cooling energy consumption by about 90%. Highlander Company has also faced and overcome some serious problems. "The actual construction of an underwater data center is much more complex than initially anticipated,” said Zhou Jun, an engineer involved in the Shanghai project. Seawater is incompatible with electronic devices, so the company had to take special measures to protect its systems. "One of the protective measures adopted in the Highlander project is applying a glass flake coating over the steel hull to prevent corrosion. In addition, a deck above the water surface will also be installed as an access route for maintenance personnel. Although placing data centers underwater helps reduce energy consumption, some experts are concerned about the consequence of continuous heat dissipation leading to ocean warming. When energy efficiency and ecological issues become crucial, this innovative approach to data center cooling appears particularly promising.