In Honor of Earth Day, OPPO Highlights Sustainable Practices in Data Center Innovation

The just concluded Earth Day was a significant occasion for people worldwide to raise awareness about the importance of protecting our planet. This year’s theme, “Invest in Our Planet,” resonated with OPPO’s long-term investment in sustainable development.

Aligned with its mission “Technology for Mankind, Kindness for the World”, OPPO pledged to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 across its operations. The OPPO Andes Brain (Binhaiwan Bay) IDC, OPPO’s first self-built data center, exemplifies its dedication to integrating infrastructure and business innovations to reduce carbon emissions and make a long-term investment in preserving the Earth.

Using 100% renewable energy

In today’s digital age, the demand for data storage, artificial intelligence, and high-performance computing is constantly growing. The OPPO Andes Brain (Binhaiwan Bay) IDC, which commenced operations in late 2022, serves as OPPO’s center for data security, computing, and algorithm innovation.

To minimize carbon emissions, the data center relies on 100% renewable energy sources. Since 2022, it has utilized 6.176 gigawatt-hours of renewable power, equivalent to a reduction of 3,600 tCO2e in emissions.

Additionally, with the rainwater harvesting system for cooling circulation applied in the data center, about 30,000 tons of water will be saved annually.

Applying immersion cooling technology to enhance energy efficiency

Besides utilizing 100% renewable energy, the OPPO Andes Brain (Binhaiwan Bay) IDC continuously explores and adopts cutting-edge, low-carbon technologies to improve energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions. A key breakthrough of this exploration is the research and implementation of immersion cooling technology for GPU server clusters.

Current data centers are estimated to consume up to 3% of the world’s total electricity and one of the key culprits of this consumption is cooling systems， which is a significant amount of energy consumption. Efficient heat dissipation method has long been a challenge in the industry.

Traditional data centers typically rely on mechanical cooling devices like fans and air conditioners, which consume extra energy and emit higher levels of CO2.

Immersion cooling technology for GPU server clusters is an innovation solution that OPPO employs to improve energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions. This technology entails submerging servers directly in a non-conductive liquid, which removes heat generated during operation without requiring active cooling from equipment like fans and air conditioners.

The heated liquid circulates, cools, and returns to continue absorbing the heat.

The reclaimed heat can be then repurposed in other areas, such as heating in the dormitory and hot water provision, substantially increasing energy efficiency.

The adoption of immersion cooling technology leads to a 45% improvement in energy efficiency and an industry-leading data center power usage efficiency (PUE) as low as 1.15.

Immersion cooling technology is applied to improve energy efficiency

Digitalization Carbon Emission Management

As a global technology company operating in over 60 countries and regions, OPPO has also developed a carbon emission data platform, to analyze the data of carbon emission from OPPO’s self-build clouds services and servers worldwide.

Starting from Chinese market in July 2022, OPPO began issuing monthly Carbon Emission Bills caused by OPPO Cloud service to customer as part of a broader effort to foster a green intelligent engine.

Model of OPPO Cloud Carbon Emission Data Platform

OPPO continuously explores innovative solutions to contribute to sustainable development and green data center is just one of them. Protecting this Earth requires long-term strategy and commitment, and OPPO is doing our part as a global citizen to work towards a greener future.