Microsoft has installed an underwater data centre at the Billia Croo wave test site at European Marine Energy Centre off Orkney in collaboration with Naval Group of France
The Project Natick scheme will assess whether the approach has potential for large-scale data centres that otherwise require expensive cooling systems.
The data centre was deployed on the seabed via a Naval-designed tripod foundation and connected to shore via a 200-metre umbilical cable, as first reported exclusively last month by subscription newsletter reNEWS.
The data centre installed at Billia Croo berth four by Orkney outfit Green Marine will be operated in a so-called lights out state without human presence for the entire deployment of one year.
A dual air-water system enables cooling of the data centre, thus taking advantage of the temperature of the underwater environment.
Microsoft Research Project Natick lead Ben Cutler said: “Half the world’s population lives within 200 km of the sea, so placing data centres offshore increases the proximity of the cloud to the population, reducing latency and providing better responsiveness.
“And by deploying in the water we benefit from ready access to cooling – reducing the requirement for energy for cooling by up to 95%”.
Image: Microsoft data centre (Naval Group)
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