China Telecom Ningxia Zhongwei Data Center
Desert mega-facility utilizing extreme diurnal dry air and Yellow River water
The story
Built on the arid rim of the Tengger Desert in Ningxia, China Telecom Zhongwei exemplifies desert green computing. The facility harnesses Ningxia's arid climate and massive solar irradiation, drawing from some of China's largest desert photovoltaic parks. Operating evaporative cooling that leverages the extreme day-night temperature swing, the campus achieves an annual PUE of 1.13 while channeling cheap green compute to Beijing over dedicated optical expressways.
Notable
- Located at the edge of the Tengger Desert, taking advantage of cold, dry continental air.
- Powered directly by massive multi-gigawatt photovoltaic installations across the Ningxia corridor.
- Achieves year-round PUE of 1.13 using advanced dual-mode evaporative cooling coils.
- Key Western hub delivering bulk computing capacity to coastal Beijing and Shanghai.
Expansions
- 2020: Phase 1 energized with 4,000 high-density server racks
- 2023: integrated with Tengger Desert 10-GW photovoltaic base via dedicated green power links
Sources
- 宁夏中卫推进全国一体化算力网络枢纽建设 · Ningxia Autonomous Region Government · 2023-06-19
- 中国电信中卫智算中心正式上线运营 · China Telecom · 2023-09-18
Part of the open famous data centers dataset (CC BY 4.0). Updated 2026-10-15. A correction? da@mustardseedmt.com
What is China Telecom Ningxia Zhongwei Data Center famous for?
Desert mega-facility utilizing extreme diurnal dry air and Yellow River water
Where is China Telecom Ningxia Zhongwei Data Center?
China Telecom Ningxia Zhongwei Data Center is in Zhongwei, Ningxia, China (37.525, 105.158). It is operated by China Telecom.
How much power does China Telecom Ningxia Zhongwei Data Center use?
About 40 MW of IT load and 48 MW in total, according to the sources listed on this page.
What is the PUE of China Telecom Ningxia Zhongwei Data Center?
1.13, reported.