• China's communications plan targets operating PUE below 1.2 for new large and hyperscale computing facilities by 2030
  • PUE measures facility overhead against IT power use, so a lower ratio does not necessarily mean lower total electricity consumption or customer costs

The fact

China's latest communications plan targets operating power usage effectiveness, or PUE, below 1.2 for new large and hyperscale computing facilities by 2030, according to Chinese reporting published on 8 September. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology released the five-year plan on 7 September.

China Securities Journal also reported a 3.8 trillion yuan cumulative infrastructure-investment target under the plan. That figure is an industry planning objective rather than funding assigned to individual developers. The PUE target applies to newly built large and hyperscale facilities, not every existing data centre.

PUE compares a facility's total electricity use with the electricity consumed by its IT equipment. A lower ratio means less electricity is used by supporting systems for a given IT load. The reported plan does not specify how the 1.2 target will be measured at individual facilities or how it will be applied to specific projects.

The assessment

The 1.2 target brings PUE into the design stage of new facilities. Cooling, power distribution and other supporting systems all affect the ratio, so developers may need to consider how equipment choices will perform against the target before construction and commissioning.

A lower PUE does not necessarily mean lower electricity use overall. At a PUE of 1.2, every 100 units of electricity used by IT equipment correspond to 120 units for the whole facility. A larger computing load can therefore consume more electricity even with a better PUE. Developers also need to know the operating load and measurement boundary behind any projected figure before comparing designs.

For BTW readers, the target makes the conditions behind a PUE estimate more important during equipment selection. Developers need to know how a proposed design reaches the figure and whether the same result can be measured after commissioning. Until implementation guidance defines that process, however, 1.2 remains a national planning target rather than a clear project-level compliance test.

What to watch

Watch for implementation guidance explaining how operating PUE will be measured for new large and hyperscale facilities and whether the 1.2 target becomes part of project approval or operating assessment. Results from completed facilities using the same measurement method would show whether design estimates are being achieved after commissioning.