Vattenfall and Project Enki, together with ABB, are exploring the potential for developing offshore data centres directly connected to offshore wind farms. The initiative aims to address growing demand for computing capacity, including for artificial intelligence (AI) applications, while reducing pressure on onshore electricity grids. The collaboration focuses on integrating existing technologies. Project Enki will develop and operate the data centres, while Vattenfall will provide a long-term supply of renewable electricity generated by offshore wind farms.
The facilities are not intended to function as traditional cloud computing environments. Instead, they will be designed for long-duration, computationally intensive workloads. AI calculations can be divided into separate tasks, allowing computing activity to be scaled back or postponed during periods of lower wind generation.
The use of seawater cooling on offshore platforms would eliminate the need for freshwater consumption. The consistently low temperature of seawater can also improve server cooling efficiency.
The partners are currently in an initial development phase focused on identifying a first project location. During this stage, a joint project team will assess the technical, economic and societal aspects of the concept.
