Summary
(1) The Government of Inner Mongolia has launched a national green data center recommendation program to promote energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions in the data center industry. The program is part of the national plan to implement the "2024-2025 National Energy-Saving and Carbon Reduction Action Plan."
(2) To be eligible for recommendation, data centers must meet specific requirements in six areas: industry, information and communication, energy, internet, finance, and public institutions. These requirements include high energy efficiency, green and low-carbon development, reasonable layout, advanced technology, and perfect management. The data center types that are eligible for recommendation include smart computing centers, general data centers, and supercomputing centers.
(3) Data centers must have the following conditions:
(4) 1. The data center owner must have independent legal status, clear ownership, and a defined physical boundary. They must also have independent power supply and cooling systems and have been continuously stable for over a year. 2. Data centers must comply with national plans for green and high-quality development of new infrastructure. They must be located in areas that meet the requirements for high-quality development and must have been built after 2022. 3. Data centers must have a minimum of 3000 standard racks (excluding those in the public and financial sectors), an upper rack ratio of not less than 60%, and a computing resource utilization rate at the industry-leading level. 4. Data centers must achieve a green data center evaluation level of two or higher, with an energy efficiency ratio of not more than 1.30, and a level of two or higher in terms of energy efficiency, as per the "Data Center Energy Efficiency Limiting Values and Efficiency Grades" (GB40879-2021). 5. Data centers must have a high level of renewable energy utilization, such as wind and solar power, and must have a strong ability to regulate electricity loads and match them with electricity supply.
(5) In addition to meeting these requirements, data centers must also engage in continuous technological innovation and optimization, establish and implement green procurement systems, provide green public services, and conduct green operations. They must also ensure that their suppliers and supply chains have high levels of green and low-carbon development.
(6) Data centers that have been involved in serious incidents, have been subject to administrative penalties, or have been listed as untrustworthy will not be eligible for recommendation.
(7) The recommendation program involves the following steps:
(8) 1. Relevant units will voluntarily participate in the program, conduct self-evaluation, and compile a self-evaluation report. They will be responsible for the accuracy and truthfulness of the materials provided. 2. Local authorities will review the materials, select the best candidates, and submit their recommendations to the Autonomous Region's Industrial and Information Technology Department. 3. The Autonomous Region's Industrial and Information Technology Department will review the recommendations, conduct on-site inspections if necessary, and select the best candidates to recommend to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
(9) The local authorities are required to submit their recommendations to the Autonomous Region's Industrial and Information Technology Department by July 21, 2025. They are also required to promote the program and provide guidance to data centers that do not meet the requirements.