Placing data centers under the sea may be a way for China IDC to go overseas

Driven by technological demands represented by AIGC, countries around the world, especially developing countries, have seen huge demands for computing power, which requires the construction of a large number of data centers to support society. development and progress. Under such huge opportunities, going overseas has become an inevitable strategy for the future development of my country's IDC companies. Against this background, in addition to the natural advantages of energy conservation and environmental protection,undersea data centers have also begun to show great potential in the overseas field.

Traditional data centers have many obstacles that need to be overcome when going global. For example, we must first solve the problem of data center construction costs. In developed countries, data center construction facilities are mature, but labor and construction costs are high. Although labor costs are lower in developing countries, there is a lack of construction-related supporting equipment. How to overcome these problems? How to complete data center delivery cost-effectively? How to leverage the advantages of Chinese manufacturing overseas? The traditional data center model has insufficient experience in solving this problem.

The new generation data center learns from the experience of other industries and uses a modular model to complete most of the manufacturing at home and then transport it abroad for installation. This idea reduces costs and shortens the installation cycle. This cost reduction and efficiency increase are not only suitable for foreign businesses, but also for domestic businesses. Modular data centers are undoubtedly the direction of future data center construction, and relevant domestic companies have launched multiple modular solutions.

The undersea data center is a crystallization of the development of this idea. The undersea data cabin can be fully designed and manufactured domestically, transported by ship and deployed on the predetermined seabed, to the greatest extent Shortening the construction cycle, giving full play to domestic manufacturing advantages, and reducing interference from various local factors,it is a further modular data center with advantages that are difficult to match with traditional solutions.

Green environmental protection issues are undoubtedly the focus of both opportunities and challenges in IDC’s overseas field. Data centers have become large energy consumers in today's era. In order to reduce heat dissipation energy consumption, many data centers are deployed in places with cool climates. However, not all places have such conditions. In particular, the possible locations for my country's data centers to go overseas in the future include Southeast Asia and Africa. The local climate conditions do not have so many places suitable for deploying data centers. for thisFor areas with hot climates and long coastlines, placing data centers under the sea is undoubtedly the most energy-saving and environmentally friendly option.

At the same time, under the tide of ESG investment, choosing green and low-carbon solutions can attract more investment and policy support. According to estimates from various funds, in the next few decades, , the global ESG investment market may be worth tens of trillions, and only IDC companies that are qualified to enter this market can gain more long-term development space. Deploying the data center under the sea and using the power of nature to dissipate heat can achieve an extremely high energy consumption ratio.This idea is undoubtedly in line with the trend of ESG.

In addition to environmental protection, land-related issues are often very difficult in the process of going overseas. The land required to build a data center is not only related to cost issues, but also has a great relationship with policies and compliance. The construction period of large buildings is often very long. During this period, local land planning may change, bringing many variables to data center construction. According to traditional thinking, this is not a problem that can be solved by technical solutions. The use of technical optimization can make the data center more intensive and reduce the land use area, but it is impossible not to occupy land. At the same time, when building a data center locally, local labor costs and labor regulations must also be considered.

　Design models such as undersea data centers may avoid compliance challenges. Undersea data centers do not occupy public land, so there are almost no land issues, and the use of ocean space by countries is generally much smaller in terms of policy restrictions. The modular construction method also allows the preliminary construction work to be completed domestically, minimizing the local construction time, as well as the personnel and costs required. This is a huge advantage that traditional data center solutions cannot achieve anyway.

The road to going overseas is by no means easy. There are no ever-tried solutions to many conflicts, but in any case, continuous innovation in technology is the only way to go. The undersea data center model provides a new and efficient option for data centers to go overseas, and I believe it will definitely provide opportunities and support for more companies to enter overseas markets.

There are eight billion people in the global village. Everyone should have the opportunity to enjoy life in the digital age, and everyone should also have the opportunity to use the digital world to show their creativity. It is in this process that our companies go global, gain their own development, and at the same time promote the development of the country and the world. Whoever can seize the wave of this era will achieve the greatest development.