China's Guangdong province recently announced its five-year plan for its marine economy. Part of this plan will see "high energy consuming data centers" submerged in the sea to reduce energy consumption. As per the plan, cities such as Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Zhuhai will relocate their data centers underwater.
Of course, China is a huge greenhouse gas emission contributor, with carbon in the country growing at its fastest pace in more than a decade. Moreover, data center cooling accounts for a third of its total electricity consumption. So, relocation underwater, where facilities can be naturally cooled, makes sense.
Underwater data center cooling has been being developed for a few years, and this announcement follows Highlander testing underwater data centers in Shenzhen.
Speaking to the South China Morning Post, Hu Zhenlin, a senior research fellow with the China Development Institute, said: "The supportive policies are aiming to attract and integrate competitive industries into the sea, such as electronic information and other intelligent and digital industries, thanks to which the ability to monitor and survey the ocean has also improved accordingly."
