Panthalassa Floats Data Centers That Make Their Own Electricity From Waves

Demand for artificial intelligence compute continues to rise, necessitating the search for new sources of reliable power and effective cooling. Facilities built on land frequently face opposition from communities concerned about electricity bills, noise, and water consumption. Panthalassa, a Pacific Northwest-based company, has spent the last decade developing floating platforms that generate power straight from ocean waves while staying cool in the surrounding waters. Data is transmitted to and from the platforms via satellite links rather than undersea cables. The strategy isolates operations far from shore and takes advantage of wave energy that is available around the clock in strategically chosen places.

Current prototypes for continuous wave power resemble large steel barges that sit primarily at the ocean’s bottom, with only a small portion visible above the water. Since 2025, the Ocean-2 test unit has been located off the coast of Washington state. It is around 70 metres long and produces a full megawatt of power when the waves are perfect. Waves shaking the floating part of the item push all of the water down a conduit into a reservoir underwater, where gravity simply allows it to drop into a unique water-tight turbine that generates energy. They’ve engineered it such that strong ocean conditions can’t get in and cause damage, and there are no exposed bits to break.

Photos of the Ocean-2 in the ocean reveal a plain steel construction with scale markings, antennae protruding out, and a few other components visible above the waves. Engineers made the prototypes out of thick steel coated with zinc or aluminum to prevent rusting, and they expect them to last at least 15 years. The compute bits that will be added when they go commercial will be in sealed containers with cold saltwater circulating inside, as they picked this design because the seawater will absorb the heat for them without the need for mechanical cooling or large fans to blast the moisture away.

The larger commercial ones they’re planning on are about 85 meters long and will have some AI components in those seawater-cooled containers, allowing numerous ones to work together as a larger data center. The results will be sent back to the control center via SpaceX Starlink satellites, eliminating the need to connect to the grid or run cables all the way back to the shore. They believe this technology is best suited for large, time-consuming operations that do not require immediate results.

Setting it all up begins on the beach or in a secluded body of water. Then they pull the object out to deeper water and let it sit up, as it will go from there on its own or with a little aid from a crew to its eventual destination. Targets are stretches of the Southern Ocean away from all maritime lines. The first commercial one with all of the AI gear is scheduled for 2027 and will be constructed at a new plant in the United States.
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