Workers at a wharf near the city are completing a large yellow capsule that will house servers underwater.
Underwater operations offer inherent advantages according to Highlander’s Yang Ye, whose firm is developing the Shanghai pod with state-owned construction companies.
This technology was previously tested by Microsoft off Scotland’s coast in 2018, but the Chinese project represents one of the world’s first commercial services of its kind.
Highlander vice president Yang told AFP that underwater facilities can save approximately 90% of energy consumption for cooling.
Microsoft never commercialised its trial despite retrieving its pod in 2020 and declaring the project successfully completed.
Chinese government subsidies are supporting these initiatives, with Highlander receiving 40 million yuan for a similar 2022 project in Hainan province that continues operating.
The Shanghai facility is built onshore in separate components before sea installation and will draw nearly all power from nearby offshore wind farms.
Protecting servers from moisture and saltwater corrosion presents the most obvious challenge for underwater operations.
An elevator will connect the main pod structure to an above-water segment to allow maintenance crew access.
Researchers from the University of Florida and Japan’s University of Electro-Communications found submarine data centres vulnerable to sound wave attacks transmitted through water.
University of Hull marine ecologist Andrew Want said heat emissions could attract certain species while driving away others.
Highlander cited a 2020 independent assessment of their Zhuhai test project indicating surrounding water remained well below acceptable temperature thresholds.
He stressed that thermal pollution problems require more careful study for megawatt-scale underwater data centres.
Ren suggested offshore facilities could complement rather than replace traditional data centres while serving niche market segments. – AFP
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