- Jinko Power Technology has signed a framework agreement with the People’s Government of Zhongwei City to develop a 1 GW data centre in China’s Ningxia region, marking a major strategic expansion from renewable energy into digital infrastructure.
- The RMB 24.5 billion (US$3.6 billion) project positions the company within China’s national “Eastern Data, Western Computing” initiative, which aims to shift data processing demand to renewable rich western regions.
The planned facility will deliver a total IT capacity of 1 GW and include approximately 50,000 server cabinets across an 800 acre site in the Xuanhe area of the Zhongwei Data Center cluster. The development will be executed in three phases, beginning with a RMB 10 billion first phase targeting 400 MW of capacity, followed by a RMB 6 billion second phase of 300 MW, and a RMB 8.5 billion third phase also delivering 300 MW.
The project reflects a growing convergence between renewable energy developers and large scale digital infrastructure as demand for artificial intelligence computing accelerates. Jinko Power plans to integrate its solar generation assets with the data centre operations to improve utilisation of green electricity and reduce curtailment in its power portfolio. The company expects revenues to be generated through standardised cabinet leasing and associated data centre support services, signalling a shift toward recurring infrastructure based income streams.
The investment also represents Jinko Power’s entry into the computing infrastructure sector and its stated ambition to evolve into a broader integrated energy services provider. However, the scale of capital required significantly exceeds the company’s current cash reserves, indicating a reliance on strategic partners for co-development and financing.
The project is subject to national level approvals and ongoing land use negotiations before construction can proceed at full scale.
The development underscores China’s broader policy direction to align renewable energy expansion in western provinces with the rapid growth in eastern demand for AI and high performance computing, creating a more balanced national digital and energy infrastructure system.
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
