Ocean Data Centres: Challenges to be solved

As with any emerging technology, several challenges remain. 

For one, the cost and complexity of deployment. Ocean data capacity remains very low, demonstrating the challenges around rolling out submerged data centres at scale. Despite drawing positive conclusions about the viability and benefits of ocean data centres, Microsoft pulled the plug on Project Natick without committing to further development in that arena. So how can startups approach this challenge of manufacturing and deploying ocean data centres at scale? 

Ensuring the durability of submerged infrastructure in the harsh marine environment, including resistance to saltwater corrosion as well as the threat of marine heatwaves, is also crucial. 

One significant opportunity we see is around monitoring and impact mitigation for ocean data centres, to help measure not only their impact on the environment, but also how they respond to atmospheric changes. This could involve real-time, IoT monitoring systems to assess real time environment impacts of and to data centres—from temperature changes to noise levels to impacts on marine biodiversity. 

The harshness of the underwater environment places considerable emphasis on on-going maintenance, made even more complex by the remoteness of underwater locations. We’re interested in potential solutions to this challenge, such as autonomous or remotely controlled maintenance technologies that can handle hardware upgrades, inspections, and even emergency repairs.

There is clearly a big opportunity to decarbonise the power supply of these ocean data centres, with a clear route through existing offshore energy. One potential solution could be renewable offshore microgrids, pooling energy from wind, tidal, and solar, and connecting them directly to data centres.