the world’s first ocean-powered data centre
SIMEC Atlantis Energy Limited (LON:SAE) has announced its ambition to create the world’s first ocean-powered data centre in the north of Scotland.
The plan is to supply electricity to a “hyperscale” operation in the Caithness area from its MeyGen tidal operation in the Pentland Firth.
Currently boasting a 6 megawatt (MW) operational array, which has now generated more than 20,000MWh of electricity for export to the grid, there is the potential to expand MeyGen to 80MW.
The giant server farm is being targeted to go live by 2024 and would be connected to international subsea fibre optic cables connecting to London, Europe and the US.
"Data is being touted as the new oil. It is arguably becoming the world's most valuable resource, and the amount of data requiring storage is increasing at a staggering pace. However, data centres are undeniably power hungry, and the clients of data centre operators are rightly demanding power be sourced from renewable and sustainable sources,” said SIMEC Atlantis chief executive, Tim Cornelius.
“This exciting project represents the marriage of a world leading renewable energy project in MeyGen with a data centre operator that seeks to provide its clients with a large amount of computing power, powered from a sustainable and reliable source - the ocean.”