China Powers Green Computing Hub and Smart Factories Amid AI Push
- tech360.tv
- 7 hours ago
- 2 min read
China has launched the world's first prefabricated energy hub for computing facilities in Qingdao, eastern Shandong province. The new base acts as the heart of the computing centres by providing green power to run the massive facilities.
Electricity equipment company TGOOD established the new energy hub. The infrastructure connects to data centres built by enterprises and will be adopted by national-level computing facilities in the second half of 2026.
The new hub allows for direct connection to green electricity and boasts 100% green electricity consumption. Beijing aims to coordinate computing capacity expansion with renewable energy development as rising artificial intelligence power demand pressures the electricity grid.
The prefabricated energy hub lowers the required land footprint by more than 30%. The facility also cuts overall costs by 20%.
The system enables power and computing power to work in sync under a smart system. This synchronization potentially drives down computing power prices.
Four state agencies released an action plan to make green electricity usage a key metric in new data centre projects. The plan aligns the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence with national carbon goals.
The progress in computing infrastructure coincides with structural advancements in the traditional manufacturing sector. China is scaling up a nationwide four-tier smart factory framework to guide enterprises towards higher-level artificial intelligence integration.
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology categorised the framework into basic, advanced, excellent, and pioneering levels. The tiered system has driven average product defect rates down by 47%, and shortened research and development cycles by 38%.
The country now has 35,000 basic-level smart factories, over 8,200 advanced-level smart factories, and 500 excellent facilities. Fifteen pioneering enterprises have been shortlisted to explore cutting-edge smart manufacturing models.
Shortlisted enterprises include security camera maker Hikvision, state-owned steelmaker Baosteel, and a Wuhan subsidiary of electronic components maker BOE. These pioneering companies explore models such as island-style assembly in the automotive industry, and agile customisation for home appliances.
China has launched the world's first prefabricated energy hub for computing facilities in Qingdao to provide 100% green electricity consumption.
The energy hub lowers the required land footprint by more than 30%, cuts overall costs by 20%, and potentially reduces computing power prices.
A four-tier smart factory framework has been established nationally to guide manufacturing enterprises towards higher-level artificial intelligence integration.
Source: SCMP
