GDS Partners with EcoCeres in Pioneering Pilot for Renewable Diesel at Chinese Data Center
April 10, 2026
In a significant move for China's data center industry, leading digital infrastructure developer GDS Holdings has launched a pilot project with biofuel producer EcoCeres to test the use of hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) as a direct replacement for conventional diesel in backup generators. This initiative marks one of the first commercial deployments of HVO, a renewable diesel alternative, within the Chinese market, signaling a growing focus on decarbonizing critical infrastructure.
The collaboration will see Hong Kong-based EcoCeres supply HVO to a GDS data center facility in North China. The fuel is designed as a "drop-in" replacement, requiring no modifications to existing backup power units, and can be used in blended form or as a full substitute. This pilot is viewed as a crucial test case for scaling the use of waste-based biofuels in China's rapidly expanding internet data center (IDC) sector, which has historically relied on diesel generators for backup power during grid outages.
Matti Lievonen, CEO of EcoCeres, emphasized the project's broader implications: "Partnering with GDS shows how HVO can help decarbonize mission-critical infrastructure without compromising reliability. By turning used cooking oil into renewable backup power for GDS, we are putting the circular economy concept into practice and proving how HVO can empower low-carbon computing power and enable a greener future."
The pilot aligns with a global trend within the data center industry, where HVO adoption has gained traction, particularly in Europe. Companies like Verne Global, AWS, Vantage Data Centers, and STACK Infrastructure have already implemented HVO for backup power in markets such as the UK, Finland, Sweden, and Norway. The fuel is produced from renewable feedstocks like used cooking oil and animal fats, offering a substantial reduction in lifecycle carbon emissions compared to fossil diesel.
GDS, which reported $1.6 billion in revenue for 2025—a 10.8% year-over-year increase—is one of China's largest digital infrastructure firms. Its partnership with EcoCeres, a producer of HVO and sustainable aviation fuel backed by Bain Capital and Kerogen Capital, represents a strategic step towards diversifying its energy resilience with lower-carbon solutions. If successful, the trial could pave the way for wider adoption of renewable diesel across GDS's extensive portfolio and influence sustainability practices industry-wide in China.
Source: datacenterdynamics
