Sanya /China/, December 29. /TASS/. China's first commercial underwater data center will appear in the city of Sanya in the southern Chinese province of Hainan, the Hainan Daily reported.
According to the article, Hainan Province’s Big Data Management and Beijing Highlander Digital Technology signed a strategic cooperation agreement on December 26, which provides for the construction of the center.
The project includes three key phases: the first involves installing five to six modules of the center, as well as a shore station, with an investment of 650 million yuan (about $102 million). The second stage will involve the construction of 50 modules of the center as well as a shore station, with a total investment of 2.8 billion yuan (about $440 million). The third stage will involve a total of 100 modules, as well as the completion of the center's production processes. According to preliminary estimates, the volume of investment in the project will reach 5.6 billion yuan (about $879 million), the center's construction schedule has not yet been announced.
As the Hainan Daily notes, the construction of underwater data centers saves energy: seawater is used for cooling, thus eliminating the need for cooling equipment.
Beijing Highlander Digital Technology Vice President Xu Tang said that the company will continue to promote the construction of underwater data centers in the future and intends to gradually create a marine industrial park of new technologies, according to the newspaper.