W.058SemiAnalysis puts Chinese data centre capex under $3M a megawatt, about a quarter of a US cost index. Rents it reports are about a fifth of Northern Virginia’s
After a visit to Envision’s campus in Ulanqab, Inner Mongolia, SemiAnalysis reported that Chinese data centre capital costs have fallen to less than $3M a megawatt, that rents are about $40 a kilowatt a month before power, and that power there costs about 5.5¢ a kilowatt-hour. Against US benchmarks, those are about 25% of Turner & Townsend’s US build cost, 17%–21% of Northern Virginia rents and 62% of the average US industrial power price.
The report
SemiAnalysis toured Envision’s Galaxy campus in September and published its account on November 7. The campus is planned for up to 800MW of IT capacity, built to suit for two internet companies, and its first 120MW phase was delivered within a year at a fifth of US costs, SemiAnalysis wrote. Envision told Caixin, in an interview published November 5, that phase one is about 200MW and was handed over at the end of October; its August release says the campus is designed to scale to over 2GW. The campus draws on 420MW of wind at two wind farms, SemiAnalysis wrote. A People’s Daily report in October counted 22 computing projects under construction in Ulanqab’s Chahar High-tech Zone and nearly 30,000 workers.
SemiAnalysis said costs across the market have fallen. Capital spending has dropped about 25% over five years, to under $3M a megawatt, it wrote, and rents have roughly halved, to about $40 a kilowatt a month excluding power. That would put them near $4M and $80 five years ago. The text does not say what the megawatt cost covers; it is given as a figure for the Chinese market, not for Galaxy. Inner Mongolia has 25GW of data centre projects announced, SemiAnalysis said.
Under $3M a megawatt is about a quarter of the US average in one cost index, and half of Shanghai’s
Construction cost, $ million per megawatt. China: SemiAnalysis, an upper bound, scope not stated. Turner & Townsend’s 2026-27 index excludes IT equipment, land and utility works, for a typical 60MW design. Cushman & Wakefield’s 2026 average is all-in for the most modern US and Canadian facilities, including land and power infrastructure but excluding chips; its range runs from $8.9M to $23.3M. Dashed outline: the top of a range.
How it compares
The gap depends on the benchmark. Turner & Townsend’s index, which leaves out IT equipment and land, puts the US average at $12.08M a megawatt and advanced AI facilities at $14–16M; $3M is 25% of the first. On Cushman & Wakefield’s all-in US and Canadian average of $17.6M it is 17%. The same Turner & Townsend index prices Shanghai at $5.79M, 48% of the US average: on that like-for-like measure, a big Chinese city costs half as much as the US, not a fifth. If Galaxy’s cost were near the $3M market figure, a fifth of US costs would imply a US figure near $15M a megawatt, inside the US AI-site range.
Power and rent are cheaper too. About 5.5¢ a kilowatt-hour all-in is 62% of the US average industrial price in the second quarter, by the Energy Information Administration’s figures, and 84% of the average in the region that includes Texas. A Huxiu report puts Ulanqab’s delivered data centre price at ¥0.32–0.36, about 4.8¢–5.4¢. CBRE puts Northern Virginia rents at $190–235 a kilowatt a month for 250–500kW requirements; its figures and SemiAnalysis’s may not be defined the same way.
Lower costs have not closed the capacity gap. SemiAnalysis estimated in September that China has more than 24GW of operating data centre capacity, against 56GW in the US at the end of 2026, with about 20GW of dated projects and 30GW more announced in China. Cheap buildings and power do not by themselves fill them: the processors that go inside are subject to US export rules.
Power in Inner Mongolia costs about 62% of the US industrial average
US cents per kilowatt-hour. Inner Mongolia: SemiAnalysis, all-in. Ulanqab: reported data centre delivered price of ¥0.32–0.36, converted at 6.6741 yuan to the dollar (October 26). US: Energy Information Administration, average industrial price, second quarter of 2026, by census region.
Chinese rents of about $40 compare with $190–235 in Northern Virginia
Data centre rent, $ per kilowatt per month. China: SemiAnalysis, excluding power. Others: CBRE, Global Data Center Trends 2026: Northern Virginia and Chicago for 250–500kW requirements, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Singapore average asking rents; CBRE does not say here whether power is included. Dashed outline: the top of a range.
China’s data centre capacity is under half the US’s, with twice as much again in its pipeline
Gigawatts. SemiAnalysis estimates of total data centre capacity, published September 25, 2026: US at year-end 2026; China operating capacity, date not stated. China: over 24GW operating (solid), about 20GW of pipeline with dates (light), and about 30GW announced (outline). Inner Mongolia: announced projects, from the November 7 report; a different report, not a like-for-like subset of China’s 30GW.
The figures behind the charts
| Measure | China | US benchmark | China ÷ US |
|---|---|---|---|
| Build cost, $M/MW (T&T) | <3 | 12.08 | 25% |
| Build cost, $M/MW (C&W, all-in) | <3 | 17.6 | 17% |
| Power, ¢/kWh (US industrial) | 5.5 | 8.85 | 62% |
| Rent, $/kW/month (N. Virginia) | 40 | 190–235 | 17%–21% |
| Capacity, GW | 24 | 56 | 43% |
What this changes on 06.ai
- Compute-balance pack: a building cost under $3M a megawatt would make the building a small part of a Chinese AI site’s total cost next to its chips. Worth checking against the pack’s China assumptions, which should turn on chip supply more than on construction.
- Worth tracking: Turner & Townsend’s Shanghai figure against SemiAnalysis’s, as two reads of the same gap; and Envision’s phase two, due in the second quarter of 2027 by its account to Caixin.
Sources and method
| Item | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Report | Galaxy campus planned for up to 800MW of IT; first 120MW phase delivered within a year at a fifth of US costs; capex down about 25% in five years to under $3M per MW; rents roughly halved to about $40/kW/month excluding power; power about $0.055/kWh all-in; 25GW announced in Inner Mongolia | SemiAnalysis, Nov 7, as quoted by FourWeekMBA |
| Report | Rents halved and build costs fell 25% | FourWeekMBA, Nov 8 |
| Report | Two wind farms about 80km apart, 420MW installed | SemiAnalysis, Nov 7 |
| Report | 22 projects and about 30,000 workers, Chahar High-tech Zone | AI Weekly, Nov 8 |
| Local | 22 computing projects under construction and nearly 30,000 workers in Ulanqab’s Chahar High-tech Zone | People’s Daily, Oct 26, via Sina |
| Envision | Phase one about 200MW, delivered at the end of October; about 1GW after four phases | Caixin, Nov 5 |
| Envision | Galaxy Campus commissioned; “designed to scale to over 2GW” | Envision release, Aug 6 |
| Cost | US average $12.08/W, advanced AI sites $14–16/W, Shanghai $5.79/W; excludes IT equipment, land and utility works | Turner & Townsend, Oct 2026 |
| Cost | Shanghai in the 2026-27 index | Turner & Townsend, Oct 29 |
| Cost | Average all-in greenfield cost $17.6M/MW, range $8.9–23.3M, excluding chips and GPUs | Cushman & Wakefield, 2026 |
| Cost | Cushman & Wakefield range, inclusions and chip exclusion | CRE Daily |
| Cost | Turner & Townsend exclusions: IT equipment, land, utility works | Turner & Townsend, methodology |
| Power | US industrial price, Q2 2026: 8.85¢; West South Central 6.53¢; South Atlantic 8.36¢ | EIA, Short-Term Energy Outlook, Oct 2026, table 7c |
| Power | Ulanqab data centre power ¥0.32–0.36/kWh | Huxiu, Oct 9 |
| FX | 6.6741 yuan per dollar, Oct 26 | Pound Sterling Live |
| Rent | Northern Virginia $190–235, Chicago $200–230, Tokyo $280, Hong Kong $295, Singapore $403 a kW a month | CBRE, Global Data Center Trends 2026 |
| Capacity | China over 24GW, US 56GW at year-end 2026; China pipeline about 20GW dated and 30GW announced | FourWeekMBA, on SemiAnalysis, Sep 25 |
SemiAnalysis’s article is mostly behind a paywall; we read its figures through the quotations in FourWeekMBA and AI Weekly. The $3M is an upper bound, so every ratio built on it is a ceiling. Build cost: 3 ÷ 12.08 = 24.8%; 3 ÷ 17.6 = 17.0%; Shanghai 5.79 ÷ 12.08 = 47.9%; if Galaxy were at the market figure, a fifth of US costs would imply 3 × 5 = 15. Five years ago: 3 ÷ (1 − 0.25) = 4.0; 40 ÷ (1 − 0.5) = 80. Power: ¥0.32 ÷ 6.6741 = 4.79¢, ¥0.36 ÷ 6.6741 = 5.39¢; 5.5 ÷ 8.85 = 62.1%; 5.5 ÷ 6.53 = 84.2%. Rent: 40 ÷ 235 = 17.0%; 40 ÷ 190 = 21.1%. Capacity: 24 ÷ 56 = 42.9%; China with pipeline 24 + 20 + 30 = 74.
Wire reports are written within hours of the news, on a six-hour schedule. Each lists its sources and shows the arithmetic behind its figures. Not investment advice.