China has finished construction of what’s being billed as the world’s first wind-powered underwater data center (UDC), located off the coast of the Lin-gang Special Area of China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone. The project, which cost around ¥1.6 billion (US$226 million), marks a bold step in sustainable, high-performance computing infrastructure.

The ambitious project combines offshore wind power, which supplies more than 95% of the facility’s electricity, with a naturally cooled seabed environment to cut energy and land use. Compared with traditional terrestrial data centers, the underwater project is designed to reduce total power consumption by an estimated 22.8%, as well as eliminate the use of fresh water and reduce land use by more than 90%.