The Artificial Intelligence Innovation Center and the Low-Altitude Economy and Smart Mobility projects were officially launched recently in the Port Industrial Park of Yangjiang Coastal New Area (Yangjiang High-tech Zone). Once operational, electricity generated from offshore wind farms in Yangjiang's waters will be directly supplied via dedicated power lines to the planned AI data center. This will enable the local consumption of green electricity and the on-site conversion of computing power. This move represents a key strategic step in Yangjiang's collaboration with Alibaba Cloud and AutoNavi.
On September 9, 2025, the municipal government signed a Cooperation Framework Agreement with Alibaba Cloud Computing Co., Ltd. and AutoNavi Software Co., Ltd. The agreement aims to leverage Yangjiang's abundant green energy resources to jointly build an integrated industrial ecosystem combining "Green Power, Intelligent Computing, and Low-Altitude" applications. As the project advances, this flagship initiative, which carries Yangjiang's ambitions for industrial upgrading, is rapidly transitioning from blueprint to reality. The goal is to create a demonstration model for AI infrastructure and application scenarios in South China and nationwide.
Green power serves as the foundation, transforming energy advantages into industrial competitiveness. For the computing power industry, electricity is both an indispensable lifeline and a core factor determining operational costs. Yangjiang's unique energy endowment provides the core confidence to attract leading digital enterprises and promote high-quality industrial development. This confidence is backed by solid data. As a frontrunner in national offshore wind power development, Yangjiang's total installed power capacity exceeds 24.29 million kilowatts, ranking first in the province, with clean energy accounting for a high 76% of the mix. The grid-connected capacity of offshore wind power is set to exceed 13 million kilowatts this year, making it the nation's first ten-million-kilowatt-level offshore wind power base. Meanwhile, the Yangjiang Nuclear Power Plant generates over 50 billion kilowatt-hours annually, ranking first among nuclear power plants in China. The Huaxia Yangxi Thermal Power Plant generates over 23.3 billion kilowatt-hours per year. The combined annual electricity generation from these two sources reaches 73.37 billion kilowatt-hours.
By the end of August this year, the Green Power Direct Supply Pilot Project in Yangjiang Coastal New Area (Yangjiang High-tech Zone) will commence formal operation. By supplying power directly via dedicated lines, transmission losses are reduced, significantly lowering operational costs. The project aims to achieve local supply and consumption of green power, helping to reduce the Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) of the computing center to industry-leading levels. This direct supply approach enhances cost-effectiveness and efficiency, further strengthening Yangjiang's competitive advantage in green power nationwide. "The comprehensive electricity costs resulting from direct green power supply offer a significant advantage nationally," said a relevant project manager from Alibaba Cloud Intelligence Group. Located at the western extension core of the Greater Bay Area, Yangjiang offers one-hour access to Guangzhou and Shenzhen. With an ultra-low network latency of 5 milliseconds, the area can efficiently meet the computing power demands of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area while also being suitable for cross-regional scheduling scenarios under the "East Data West Computing" project, demonstrating strong computing power radiation efficacy.
According to the plan, Alibaba Cloud and its ecosystem partners will use Yangjiang as a hub to build full-stack capabilities for the AI industry, upgrading the regional AI industrial cluster. They will provide integrated AI services combining "Computing Power + Models + Ecosystem" to industries in South China and sectors such as low-altitude, aerospace, high-end manufacturing, and modern agriculture. Simultaneously, they will jointly incubate specialized industrial ecosystems based on large model applications, promoting mutual empowerment between large models and scenario innovation, and attracting high-quality enterprises and talent.
Dual drivers: Intelligent computing and low-altitude economy build the future industry. If Alibaba Cloud is deepening the "intelligent computing foundation" to solidify the base for digital industry development, then AutoNavi is precisely laying out application scenarios for the low-altitude economy and smart mobility on the same industrial blueprint. According to the agreement, AutoNavi Map will collaborate with the Yangjiang municipal government to jointly cultivate Yangjiang's low-altacity economy industrial ecosystem, promote the integration of upstream and downstream industries, and orderly accelerate the overall layout of the low-altitude industry. Regarding application scenarios, they will actively explore diverse low-altitude applications such as offshore wind farm operation and maintenance, logistics transport, and low-altitude tourism, aiding the standardized and high-quality development of the low-altitude economy industry.
Offshore wind farm maintenance is an application scenario highly characteristic of Yangjiang. As the grid-connected capacity of offshore wind power in Yangjiang is about to exceed 13 million kilowatts, the vast number of wind turbines creates an urgent need for efficient and safe maintenance methods. The practical application of the low-altitude economy will provide efficient solutions for turbine inspection and fault diagnosis, significantly improving maintenance efficiency and reducing operational risks. Furthermore, leveraging Yangjiang's unique tourism resources encompassing both mountains and sea, low-altitude tourism scenarios also possess broad development potential and are expected to become a new growth point for Yangjiang's cultural tourism industry.
At the same time, AutoNavi will also rely on its AI technology and mature mobility service capabilities to comprehensively enhance the service level of Yangjiang's smart mobility system. This includes optimizing traffic network management efficiency, improving public transport scheduling accuracy, and refining the travel navigation service system, thereby tangibly improving the daily travel convenience for local residents and the travel experience for tourists, and adding quality and efficiency to Yangjiang's smart city construction.
Precise policy measures and improved services drive industrial leapfrogging. The rapid landing of these two leading projects is inseparable from the precise services provided by the local government. Since the signing of the agreement in September 2025, the city promptly established a special task force led by municipal leaders, implementing "list-based" management, full-process tracking, and closed-loop advancement for the project. Focusing on core corporate demands such as green power guarantee and network latency, the task force addressed, implemented, and fulfilled each item one by one, using efficient and pragmatic services to clear obstacles and pave the way for project construction.
"The focus of our investment promotion is not merely the investment scale of a single project, but the industrial ecosystem aggregation, technological empowerment, and regional driving effects brought by leading enterprises," explained a relevant official from the Municipal Investment Promotion Bureau. Yangjiang is accelerating the construction of its "4+4+X" industrial system, and the cooperation with Alibaba Cloud and AutoNavi is a key move to strengthen and complete the industrial chain. Moving forward, leveraging this project as a base, the city will continue to attract upstream and downstream supporting enterprises, promoting the cluster-based development of the AI and low-altitude economy industries.
According to the plan, over the next 2 to 3 years, the city will focus on high-quality industrial development goals, striving to apply for national-level innovation center status. It will accelerate the construction and operation of a GPU intelligent computing cluster with globally advanced capabilities, promoting a virtuous cycle where cutting-edge large model technology applications and Alibaba's core technologies mutually empower each other, and scenario innovation and technological advancement reinforce one another. The aim is to continuously gather high-quality market entities and high-level innovative talent, incubating and cultivating a batch of benchmark innovative application scenarios. Simultaneously, based on the city's maritime location and energy advantages, it will actively explore pilot projects for underwater data centers and deploy new, green, low-carbon computing power infrastructure.
Wind comes from the sea, electricity is generated from the wind, and computing power surges from green electricity, ultimately empowering countless industries. Leveraging its unique green power resources, geographical advantages, and industrial foundation, Yangjiang is using the AI Innovation Center and the Low-Altitude Economy and Smart Mobility projects as key drivers to accelerate the construction of an integrated development pattern combining "Green Power, Intelligent Computing, and Low-Altitude" applications. The city is steadily advancing and striving to leap forward on the track of developing new quality productive forces.