The installation of the first underwater data center, developed by the company Highlander, uses the temperature of seawater for its cooling, projecting an annual energy saving of 122 million kWh.
China has marked a technological milestone with the operation of its first commercial underwater data center on a global scale. The project, led by the firm Highlander, has been strategically installed off the coast of Hainan Island. Its main objective is to take advantage of the low and constant temperature of seawater to dissipate the heat of the servers, achieving a drastic reduction in cooling costs and electricity consumption compared to land-based facilities.
The initial phase of this infrastructure, called UDC, is already operational with four submerged modules. Each of these units has a considerable weight of 1,300 tons and a size comparable to that of a line bus, according to its managers.
The impact on efficiency of this design is notable. Compared to a land-based facility of the same capacity, the underwater data center is expected to save 122 million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually. Moreover, this cooling method avoids the consumption of 105,000 tons of fresh water each year. The developers have estimated the installation’s lifespan at 25 years.
This is just the beginning of the project. Highlander’s expansion plans aim to reach a total of 100 operational modules by 2025. Once completed, it will become the largest commercial underwater data center on the planet, consolidating this innovative technological solution.
The carbon impact of data centers
The energy consumption of data centers is around 200 terawatt-hours (TWh) per year. It is projected that this usage will increase approximately fifteen times by 2030, constituting 8% of the total electricity demand forecasted for that year.
This volume of consumption already exceeds the national energy demand of several nations and represents 1% of the global electricity demand.
According to Nature magazine, the specific industry of data centers is responsible for about 0.3% of total carbon emissions. Meanwhile, the information and communications technology (ICT) ecosystem that relies on them—including televisions, mobile networks, and personal devices—is responsible for more than 2% of global emissions.
For this reason, the carbon footprint associated with data centers is a central point of concern, especially because the ICT sector, which is in constant growth, depends on these facilities for its existence.
What is a data center?
A data center is defined as a physical facility that houses computing infrastructure, servers, storage systems, and networked computers. Organizations and companies use these facilities to process, organize, disseminate, and store large volumes of information in the form of data.
According to TechTarget, these facilities usually also incorporate ventilation and cooling systems, backup generators, complementary power subsystems, and electrical distribution services.
