China Leverages Green Power for Computing Boom, Shifting Workloads Westward to Renewable Energy Hubs
China is actively pursuing a strategy to power its rapidly expanding computing infrastructure, particularly for AI model training and inference, with green energy. This initiative involves shifting computing workloads westward to regions like Zhongwei in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, where renewable energy sources and land are more abundant. For instance, a data center operated by China Mobile in Zhongwei now receives over 80% of its electricity directly from a nearby solar power station. This solar farm, along with a 1.5-gigawatt wind farm under construction, aims to provide round-the-clock green power to data centers. The city of Zhongwei also benefits from a dry, cool climate and stable geological conditions, allowing data centers to rely on natural cooling for eight to ten months a year, further reducing electricity consumption. This national push, known as the 'East Data, West Computing' project, designates Ningxia as one of China's eight national computing hubs. 
