The reporter learned from Lingshui Li Autonomous County in Hainan Province that the world’s first commercial underwater data center has been launched.
It is reported that the contractor of this project is Shenzhen Hailanyun Data Center Technology Co., Ltd. Previously, in collaboration with the National Marine Environment Monitoring Center, the sea area for the construction of the submarine data center was screened and settled in Qingshuiwan, Yingzhou Town, Lingshui Li Autonomous County. The data center consists of a shore station, an underwater relay station, an underwater data terminal, and a submarine cable. The shore station carries facilities such as electricity, network access, and central monitoring, Underwater relay stations are collectively referred to as intermediate underwater facilities responsible for power and network distribution, control, and transmission. Underwater data terminals are centralized with electronic information equipment and underwater facilities. Among them, underwater relay stations and underwater data terminals are deployed on the designated target seabed.
The core equipment of the data center is a cylindrical tank shaped submarine data cabin, which is a safe and closed environment with constant humidity, pressure, and oxygen free. The cabin weighs 1300 tons, equivalent to the weight of 1000 cars. The diameter of the tank body reaches 3.6 meters, which is equivalent to the core cabin of the “Tianhe” space station. It is currently the largest submarine data cabin in the world, with a structural design life of 25 years and an application depth of over 30 meters. By placing the server in a data cabin on the seabed, using the ocean as a natural cold source, it has the advantages of saving electricity, no need for fresh water, saving land resources, high security, high computing power, and rapid deployment.
The undersea data center has filled the gap in China’s integrated development of ocean engineering and new infrastructure of data centers, and its overall technical level and industrialization ability are at the forefront of the international community. At present, 9 companies including China Telecom have signed contracts with the undersea data center for cooperation.
According to personnel from the International Investment Promotion Bureau of Lingshui Li Autonomous County, the Underwater Data Center project is an innovative demonstration project for the digital construction of Hainan Free Trade Port, as well as the first three-dimensional layered sea area transfer project in Hainan Province. Government departments only transfer the seabed part according to the company’s sea area usage needs, and seawater and sea space can still serve other projects and industries.
The 14th Five Year Plan for the Development of the Marine Economy in Hainan Province proposes the construction of a Hainan undersea data center, with 100 data cabins deployed, and the gradual construction of a comprehensive marine new technology industrial park centered around the undersea data center. The launch of the world’s first commercial undersea data center coincides with the requirements of this policy. At the same time, the Lingshui government has issued multiple policy supports and assisted in the construction of Hainan Free Trade Port in various aspects such as the construction of submarine international optical cables and talent cultivation.