Inner Mongolia Accelerates Green Computing Industry Development
Inner Mongolia aspires to become a key computing power hub by capitalising on its environmental advantages and natural resources. The region's temperate weather and substantial wind and solar power capacity provide peak performance and a consistent source of green electricity for computing devices. The 2024 China Green Computing Power Conference saw the signing of 13 projects totaling 61.35 billion yuan.
Officials and experts have highlighted the region's potential in the computing power industry, with the goal of making it one of China's important hubs.
Wang Lixia, chairperson of the autonomous area, underlined that Inner Mongolia's cold weather, with temperatures lower than the national average, allows computing gadgets to work optimally. Furthermore, the region has the most wind and solar power installed capacity in the country, ensuring a consistent and ample supply of green electricity for energy-intensive computing systems.
These words were made at the 2024 China Green Computing Power Conference, which was held in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia. The conference witnessed the signing of 13 projects totaling 61.35 billion yuan ($8.4 billion). These projects address a wide range of industry issues, including computing equipment production, infrastructure building, computing applications, and operational services.
One of the primary initiatives mentioned at the conference was the relocation of computer workloads from Beijing to Inner Mongolia, leveraging the region's abundant resources. Furthermore, plans were announced for the construction of a computing power resource management platform and a data trading centre in Hohhot.
In recent years, Inner Mongolia has achieved considerable advances in computing power. In June, the region implemented 16 supportive measures targeted at improving the industrial layout, increasing electricity supplies, broadening application scenarios, and developing talent.
These efforts have produced excellent outcomes. The Horinger Green Computing Power Development Research Centre, part of the national "east data, west computing" effort, has emerged as one of the country's top ten data centre clusters. With a server installation capacity of over 3.7 million units, the center's total computing power has reached an astonishing 47,000 petaFLOPS, with intelligent computing accounting for 41,000 petaFLOPS. By the end of this year, the center's server installation capacity is projected to surpass 4 million units, with a total computing power of 65,000 petaFLOPS, including 58,000 petaFLOPS of intelligent computing power.
Inner Mongolia serves as a microcosm of China's rapid development in the computing power industry. As of the end of 2023, China's total computing power capability had reached 230 EFLOPS, with intelligent computing power reaching 70 EFLOPS, growing at an annual rate of over 70 percent. This significant growth has greatly supported the advancement of the artificial intelligence industry, as stated by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
Simultaneously, China is actively constructing a nationwide integrated computing power system to facilitate the seamless flow of data elements. The "east data, west computing" initiative aims to establish data center clusters in less developed western regions and transfer computing workloads from the more developed eastern regions, which have high demand for computing power.
Li Donghong, deputy director of the Institute for Global Industry at Tsinghua University, emphasised the need to promote energy-saving products and enhance energy efficiency in the high energy-consuming computing power sector. He also stressed the importance of increasing the proportion of green energy usage.
Inner Mongolia aims to become a key computing power hub by leveraging its environmental advantages and natural resources.
The region's cool weather and abundant wind and solar power capacity ensure optimal performance and a reliable source of green electricity for computing devices.
The 2024 China Green Computing Power Conference witnessed the signing of 13 projects, with a total investment of 61.35 billion yuan.
Source: CHINA DAILY