China builds 800-megawatt AI data center campus to rival Stargate

What happened

SemiAnalysis researchers who visited the site in September reported that the first 120 MW of the Galaxy data center campus in Ulanqab, Inner Mongolia, was completed in under a year. The report puts the cost at roughly one-fifth of comparable US projects.

The campus is being developed in four phases for two unnamed internet companies. Once complete, it is planned to offer up to 800 MW of IT capacity by the end of 2027, close to the roughly 820 MW at the Stargate campus in Abilene, Texas.

Power from its own farms

Rather than relying on the local grid, Envision is building its own generation. It is installing wind farms about 80 kilometers apart with a combined capacity of 420 MW, intended to supply more than 60% of the electricity for the campus's first two phases. Four-hour battery storage is being added to cover periods when the wind drops.

A different take on power distribution

In one 5 MW hall, solid-state transformers convert 10 kV AC from the grid directly into 800 V DC for server racks. The design removes intermediate components found in conventional data centers, including low-voltage transformers, uninterruptible power supplies and rectifiers. SemiAnalysis did not provide a measured efficiency gain for the pilot.

For cooling, liquid- and air-cooled servers share a single water loop, eliminating conventional central chiller plants. The approach simplifies infrastructure but depends on local climate conditions and the facility's ability to reject heat through its water loop.