Exclusive: Young startup wants to power floating data centers with ocean heat as investors already board | TechCrunch

A floating data center plan

Founded six months ago in Washington, DC, Drogue is building a system that harvests ocean heat to power data centers on floating vessels. Co-founder and CEO Sam Sipe says the first prototype could be operating at sea in less than two years.

The company has designed a multi-megawatt prototype for installation on a traditional ocean-going ship, which it plans to send out in early 2028. Later versions are expected to use floating structures more like offshore oil platforms. Drogue is now working to buy its first ship.

Funding and demand

Drogue says it has raised $20 million from investors including XYZ Venture Capital, Toyota Ventures, Tamarack Global, Dream, FDVC, Garuda Ventures, Flexcap, Boost VC and Slow Ventures. Sipe said data center development can involve eight- to 10-year timelines, including coordination with utilities and independent system operators. He said AI demand had risen tenfold in three years, making those timelines incompatible with the pace of demand.

Turning ocean heat into power

The system uses ocean thermal energy conversion, a method developed in the 1950s. It draws warm surface water to cool the data center and help boil ammonia; the resulting gas passes through a turbine to generate electricity.

The ammonia then enters a condenser, where cold water drawn from 1,000 meters deep absorbs heat and returns the ammonia to liquid form. The warmed water is pumped back down, and the ammonia moves through the sealed cycle again. Surface water is warmer than deep water, which averages about 39°F (4°C).

A revived approach at sea

The basic concept was tested in the 1980s and later abandoned. Sipe said manufacturing methods for pipes and heat exchangers have since changed, and he consulted people involved in earlier efforts to understand what had worked and what had not.

Sipe, who previously flew E-2D Hawkeyes from U.S. Navy aircraft carriers, said he sees the ocean as an underused resource. He also said data centers suit offshore power because their servers are compact and sending data from a platform is inexpensive, while cables to shore and shipping for manufacturing would be costly.

Drogue has received approval in principle from the American Bureau of Shipping, a preliminary sign-off from the organization that sets and checks ship safety standards. Sipe said each vessel would remain at sea for about a decade.