From TechCrunch · Tim De Chant · · 3m
Startup plans to power data centers with ocean heat
Drogue has raised twenty million dollars to build floating data centers powered by temperature differences in the sea.
In brief
Drogue has raised twenty million dollars to build floating data centers powered by temperature differences in the sea. Drogue, a six-month-old startup, has raised twenty million dollars to power floating data centers using ocean thermal energy conversion, with a prototype expected in early twenty twenty-eight…
Ocean heat powers new data centers
Drogue, a startup founded six months ago in Washington, D.C., is building systems to harvest heat from the ocean and power data centers on floating vessels.
Twenty million dollars raised
Drogue has raised twenty million dollars from investors including XYZ Venture Capital, Toyota Ventures, Tamarack Global, Dream, FDVC, Garuda Ventures, Flexcap, Boost VC, and Slow Ventures.
Prototype launching in early twenty twenty-eight
A multi-megawatt prototype will be installed on a traditional oceangoing ship and sent out to sea in early twenty twenty-eight. Future versions will be built on floating structures resembling offshore oil platforms.
Why data centers need faster deployment
Data center developers typically work on eight to ten year timelines including utility interoperability. AI demand has increased ten times in just the last three years, creating incompatibility with traditional real estate timelines.
“AI demand has increased 10x in just the last three years. It's completely incompatible.”
Founder's naval background inspired the idea
CEO Sam Sipe flew E-2D Hawkeyes off U.S. Navy aircraft carriers and developed an appreciation for the ocean's immense power and potential as an energy resource.
Ocean absorbs massive amounts of energy
As the planet warms, oceans absorb an additional five point eight million terawatt-hours of energy every year. All human civilization uses about one hundred eighty thousand terawatt-hours annually.
How ocean thermal energy conversion works
Drogue's system uses temperature differences between warm surface water and cold deep water to generate electricity. Surface waters are heated by the sun while deep temperatures average thirty-nine degrees Fahrenheit, or four degrees Celsius.
The ammonia cycle generates power
Warm surface water cools the data centers, then heats ammonia to gas at minus twenty-eight degrees Fahrenheit. The gas drives a turbine to generate electricity, then condenses using cold water from one thousand meters deep.
Why the technology works now
Ocean thermal energy conversion was tested in the nineteen eighties but abandoned. Manufacturing techniques for pipes and heat exchangers have improved significantly since then, making the approach viable at scale.
“This stuff works. It's just a matter of being able to raise enough capital to build something big enough.”
Data centers are ideal ocean customers
Sending power to shore requires expensive cables. Data centers are compact, and shipping data off the platform is incredibly cheap. Each vessel would operate at sea for about a decade.
Regulatory approval underway
Drogue has received approval in principle from the American Bureau of Shipping, which sets and checks safety standards for ships.The startup is now buying its first ship to build a prototype for the open ocean.
The big picture
Drogue, a six-month-old startup, has raised twenty million dollars to power floating data centers using ocean thermal energy conversion, with a prototype expected in early twenty twenty-eight.
