Shanghai facility uses wind power and undersea cooling for data center

Powering the future of AI starts with sustainable infrastructure. Google's $25 billion investment in data centers and AI infrastructure across the PJM Interconnection electric grid marks a key moment for the tech and energy industries. The initiative, which includes refurbishing hydropower plants and securing additional renewable energy from Brookfield Asset Management highlights the increased need for sustainable energy solutions in data center operations. A Google Cloud Platform (GCP) Build and Service Partner, RS Metrics provides sustainability and environmental risk assessments which can help data center companies reduce emissions and ensure compliance with evolving sustainability frameworks. #ECP #Sustainability #GeospatialIntelligence Explore more at: https://hubs.li/Q03MBcly0

Every week, I hear the same thing from manufacturers, utilities, EPCs, and developers alike: the demand curve isn’t just bending…it’s breaking the grid’s back. The surge from data centers, industrial electrification, and renewables isn’t normal load growth. It’s step changes...hundreds of megawatts showing up at once. And our infrastructure? It was built when “high load” meant a few factories, not an AI campus drawing power like a small city. Utilities are trying to upgrade systems older than the internet. EPCs are designing substations without knowing what voltage the interconnection will land at. Developers are stuck in multi-year queues waiting on studies that used to take months. Let’s be honest, the interconnection process itself has become the biggest constraint on energy expansion in the U.S. There’s no silver bullet here. You can’t rebuild six decades of grid in ten years. But we can get smarter about how we plan: Early alignment between utilities and developers, before projects hit the queue. Flexible interconnection standards: partial energization, load management, co-located generation. Smarter use of existing corridors: dynamic line rating, phase-shifting, advanced conductors. It’s about using what we have better. The grid doesn’t need another task force or white paper. It needs collaboration between the people actually doing the work. #GridModernization #DataCenters #Interconnection #Utilities #EPC #PowerInfrastructure #EnergyTransition

RECONCILING THE DATA CENTRE TRILEMMA - TURNING CONSTRAINT INTO CATALYST In recent weeks, over £10 billion in new data centre projects have been announced in London alone, responding to surging computing demands. With data centres accounting for over half of new electricity applications, the UK faces a critical challenge: ensuring clean, reliable, and scalable power to support this growth. The "data centre trilemma" framework introduces three key pillars: - Power Availability and Grid Access: Delays in grid connections and planning processes are stalling significant potential investments. - Clean Power and Sustainability Targets: Balancing decarbonisation with competitiveness requires innovative solutions like renewable PPAs and heat reuse. - Sector Growth and National Ambition: Expanding compute capacity is essential for AI, cloud services, and manufacturing, yet it must be sustainable and supported by clean energy. Successfully reconciling these priorities demands collaboration across energy and digital infrastructure, investors, regulators, and policymakers. The REA's new Data Centre Coalition aims to tackle these challenges, fostering partnerships and influencing policy for a clean energy transition. This is the exact type of collaboration the industry needs to drive forward sustainable growth and innovation. The Coalition will launch on 26 November 2025 (14:00-16:30) at Burges Salmon LLP, London. #DataCentre #CleanEnergy #UKDigitalTransformation

🚨China completes world's first wind-powered underwater data center 🔋💨🌊China completed construction of the world's first wind-powered underwater data center (UDC) project, setting a benchmark in terms of the green development of computing infrastructure. 💵 Located in Shanghai, this UDC project received an investment of approximately 226 million U.S. dollars and has a total power capacity of 24 megawatts. 📉Compared to traditional land-based data centers, the underwater project is designed to use over 95% green electricity, reducing power consumption by 22.8%, and water and land use by 100% and more than 90%, respectively. ❄️Energy consumption for cooling in conventional data centers accounts for roughly 40 to 50% of total energy consumption. By leveraging seawater as a natural cooling system, this UDC can reduce the proportion to below 10%. 🌊⚡️This innovation integrates offshore wind power with subsea computing systems, achieving efficient resource coordination across power generation, grid and load, while matching the data center's requirements for green electricity. Source: www.xinhuanet.com #datacenter #windpower #renewableenergy #energy #AI #udc #China

Data Centres in 2025: From Real Estate to Energy Infrastructure 2025 is when data centres became strategic energy assets. Three forces converged: (1) AI’s explosive compute demand, (2) firm, low-carbon power as the gate, (3) thermal limits pushing liquid-first, electro-thermal design. 1) Scale goes vertical. Multi-GW campuses, mega roll-ups, and tight supply (chips, power, land). Grid interconnects now outlast shells. The bottleneck isn’t concrete—it’s electrons and thermals. Geography follows firm power, latency, water rights and permitting speed—tilting to energy-rich regions and cooler climates. 2) Power strategy = product. Shift from annual “renewables matching” to firm, low-carbon portfolios: long-dated nuclear PPAs (SMR-enabled), uprated hydro baseload, and gas-plus-storage microgrids. Waste-heat recovery and thermal storage go mainstream. Policy tightens—more disclosure, diesel limits, faster but conditional permitting. Winners integrate PPAs, on-site generation, and storage to hedge price/curtailment risk. 3) Liquid first. Liquid is now default for AI racks; rear-door HX and direct-to-chip lead retrofits, with immersion for ultra-dense blocks. Microfluidic chip-internal cooling drives the next jump in heat flux and PUE, enabling higher TDPs without runaway overhead. Reliability is central: CDUs, manifolds, quick-disconnect integrity, materials compatibility, and coolant stewardship are board-level risks. 4) Fabric & silicon shift. Optics-heavy fabrics and accelerator-centric clusters proliferate; memory bandwidth and interconnect now define performance. Cloud marketplaces and AI-agent platforms lock in long-dated commits, reshaping demand and capex. Quantum is early, but optimisation/simulation pilots already influence layout and power-quality assumptions. 5) Governance gets real. Communities ask who pays for grid upgrades; regulators require clearer accounting of energy, water, embodied carbon and noise. “Social licence” is now critical path. Transparent dashboards and third-party verification are becoming prerequisites for permit speed. My take for 2026 plans: Treat power as product: secure firm, low-carbon supply + modular on-site assets and thermal storage. Go liquid-first with a roadmap to microfluidics/two-phase; design for higher supply temps and heat reuse. Engineer retrofitability: decouple white space from back-of-house energy; standardise modular blocks. Build a measurement culture: end-to-end energy, water, heat-recovery and reliability telemetry tied to SLA/SLOs. Engage early and locally: integrate grid plans, water stewardship and community benefits into the business case. Throughline: AI forces electro-thermal-policy co-design. Data centres are keystones of the emerging energy-digital system. Those who master power, thermals and governance together will define the next decade. #AI #DataCenters #LiquidCooling #EnergyTransition #SMR #Hydropower #Microfluidics #Sustainability #Grid #PUE #ThermalManagement #Hyperscale

@Ecogrid.energy | 2026 Outlook Power is the new product. Firm, low-carbon, and designed for reuse — from grid to heat. We’re going liquid-first, modular, and measurable — turning data centres into engines of the energy-digital era. Those who master power, thermals, and governance together will define the next decade. (Ref: great industry post from Prof @PS Lee on the future of electro-thermal design 👇)

Why Data Centers Can’t Rely on Carbon Capture Alone — Efficiency Matters More An article by Google entering into a gas-fired power plant + carbon-capture project for its data centers highlights a stark reality: the tension between skyrocketing digital #energy demand and clean-energy goals. The Verge Carbon-capture and storage (CCS) is expensive and potentially distracting from the real path forward: smart design + energy efficiency + #renewables. That’s why Teverra’s Cold-ResStor™ matters: ✔️ A proven subsurface cooling solution tailored for data centers ✔️ Delivers up to 80% reduction in power needs for cooling—a significant cut in operational load ✔️ Uses no surface water and minimal footprint, enabling sustainable scale even in constrained sites We believe the next wave of data-center growth must be powered by less energy, not just more generation. Because in many cases the biggest megawatt you can deploy is the one you didn’t need to burn at all. If you’re responsible for data-center strategy, sustainability, or operations—and want real gains in efficiency, flexibility, and decarbonization—let’s connect. We are available at info@teverra.com. You may also visit https://lnkd.in/e3qWBNSJ for more information. #DataCenters #CoolingTech #EnergyEfficiency #SubsurfaceSolutions #Sustainability #CleanEnergy #Teverra #ColdResStor #Innovation #AIInfrastructure #CarbonCapture #CCS #Geothermal #ColdResStor #ResStor Amazon Web Services (AWS) Meta Microsoft Vantage Data Centers H5 Data Centers https://lnkd.in/gEh8nWvF

Data centers, facing growing electricity demands, are testing innovative solutions to ease the strain on the U.S. power grid. Voltus "bring your own capacity" plan is at the forefront, offering a model where data centers incentivize utility customers to cut power usage during peak times. This approach maintains data processing while relieving grid pressure, presenting an attractive alternative as data center construction increases and grid connection waits lengthen. Voltus, a leader in virtual power plants (VPPs), collaborates with data center developers like Cloverleaf Infrastructure provide faster, cost-effective energy solutions compared to traditional infrastructure builds. Although promising, this model faces hurdles, including utility reluctance to embrace VPPs as a primary power source, indicating a need for strategic operational shifts to support such collaborations. The success of this initiative could reshape energy management in the data center sector, promoting sustainable energy practices while addressing rising demand. Read more: https://lnkd.in/gD5Ua_St #ClimateTech #EnergyTransition #VirtualPowerPlants #Decarbonized — The Decarbonized team.

⚡ Stranded Power: The Hidden Challenge Behind Data Center Growth What happens when energy is available, yet inaccessible? The concept of stranded power—energy that exists but can’t be effectively used due to infrastructure or geographic limitations—is becoming a defining challenge for the industry. This article explores how data center leaders are rethinking site selection, grid partnerships, and energy strategies to tap into these underutilized resources. It’s not just about building bigger—it’s about building smarter.   🔍 Why it matters: Unlocking stranded power can reduce waste and carbon impact. It forces a reimagination of how we design and locate digital infrastructure. It’s a critical step toward a more sustainable, resilient internet.   As we push toward a greener, AI-powered future, solving the stranded power puzzle could be one of the most impactful moves we make. #DataCenters #StrandedPower #Sustainability #DigitalInfrastructure #EnergyInnovation #TechLeadership Enzo Greco

China’s HiCloud goes subsea: wind-powered underwater DC demo, 500 MW vision Summary: HiCloud has switched on a ~2.3 MW underwater data center off Shanghai’s Lingang and signed with Shenergy, Shanghai Telecom, INESA, and CCCC Third Harbor to pursue a 500 MW subsea cluster powered by offshore wind. It’s the boldest undersea push since Microsoft’s Project Natick (now shelved), aiming to fuse digital + marine + new energy in one platform. Why this matters Power–proximity synergy: Direct coupling to offshore wind (curtailment absorber), short export path, and potential for 24/7 with hybrid storage. Thermal advantage: High heat flux + ambient seawater heat sink → lower WUE and potentially better site PUE—if corrosion, fouling, and reliability are solved. Land-light siting: Frees scarce coastal land; pushes compute closer to future offshore energy hubs. Critical questions before 500 MW scales Reliability & O&M: Wet-mate connectors, biofouling, cathodic protection, robotics for swap/repair, MTTR vs. MTBF economics. Thermal & fluids: Long-life coolants, leak-proof enclosures, end-of-life recovery; plume modeling to avoid marine impacts. Integration: Grid code compliance, curtailment mitigation, BESS/H₂ for firming, cable-landing and permitting stack. Lifecycle & ESG: Decommissioning plans, recyclability, benthic/ecology baselines, third-party MRV for “wind-powered” claims. Workload fit: AI inference/edge vs. frontier training; update cadence and service windows for sealed modules. If HiCloud proves low-touch O&M and credible firm power (wind + storage) with verifiable efficiency gains, subsea DCs could become a niche but strategic green capacity lane—especially in coastal megacity regions with tight land/power. Execution discipline on materials, maintenance robotics, and grid/storage coupling will decide whether this leap is milestone or mirage. #UnderwaterDataCenter #OffshoreWind #AIInfrastructure #LiquidCooling #SeawaterCooling #EnergyTransition #China #Shanghai #Lingang #Microgrids #BESS #Reliability #OandM #Sustainability #PUE #WUE #DigitalInfrastructure