Free cooling most of the year on the Mongolian plateau
Basis
Modelled from cooling design — WUE 0.50 L/kWh
Air — what the stacks emit
Nitrogen oxides1,336t/yr
Sulphur dioxide1,130t/yr
Fine particulates193t PM2.5
Health damages$159M/yr
Where it burns
China — Inner Mongolia
Generation mix
Coal 66 · Wind 21 · Solar 9
CO₂e
1,503 kt/yr — climate, not air quality
Who wanted it
Who asked for it
Alibaba — self-build, plus Chinese state and enterprise customers
Who approved it
Designated a national hub under the 'East Data, West Computing' plan; NDRC sets a PUE cap of 1.25 for new national-hub builds
What it serves
Alibaba Cloud north China region and Qwen model training
IT capacity
300 MW running of 700 MW announced
China's policy deliberately moves compute to the cold, windy north — which cuts cooling energy but places it on one of the most coal-heavy grids on the planet. The carbon per unit of compute here is roughly four times Finland's.
Water and air figures are modelled from disclosed capacity, not measured — site-level
error is roughly ±40%. Diesel backup generators are not counted, so on-site figures are floors.
Full method.