#oceansarelife — Public Fediverse posts

Updates on #DeepGreen’s #UnderwaterDatacenter project

by Ben Boettger | Sep 17, 2026

Excerpt: "An underwater data center’s chief selling point is the ability to passively dispel its waste heat into a cold sea. DeepGreen’s description of its 'compute hives' includes a passive cooling system that rejects heat via copper-nickel alloy cooling fins on the outside of the cylindrical hulls containing the computing equipment. Computation converts roughly 100 percent of its energy input into waste heat. DeepGreen is planning a 100 megawatt data center, which would release about 876 gigawatt-hours of #ThermalEnergy per year if it runs constantly.

"A big ocean can, of course, absorb far more heat than that. But the #Forelands is a narrow bottleneck of #CookInlet, through which salmon runs going into the #Susitna and other rivers of the northern watershed will need to pass. Whether the data center has the potential to create a #WarmWaterPlume in this relatively confined and important area, and whether this would affect the health or behavior of #salmon, #plankton, or other marine life is an unknown that should merit serious analysis.

#CopperPollution

"In addition to waste heat, the fact that the cooling system would include copper-nickel cooling fins directly exposed to seawater, strong currents, and silt might be an area of concern itself. Even small amounts of copper can be toxic to salmon.

"Though DeepGreen proposes to use a type of copper-nickel alloy common in plumbing for seawater cooling, #FERC should require them to study the concentration of copper particles it could release under conditions in the Forelands, where it would be exposed to high currents carrying a heavy load of fine silt, while subject to the thermal stress of releasing the data center’s waste heat. Chemical oceanographers and marine toxicologists should assess how serious the data center’s copper pollution could be.

"The communities of Cook Inlet | #Tikahtnu deserve thoughtful, sustainable solutions that truly serve local needs. Rather than prioritizing massive, energy-intensive data centers, we should focus on projects that deliver reliable, renewable energy and protect the region’s salmon and ecosystems for future generations."

Read more:
https://inletkeeper.org/updates-on-deepgreens-underwater-data-center-project-2/

#Greenwashing #UnderwaterDatacenters #NoAI #NoAIDatacenters #WaterIsLife
#OceansAreLife #BigTech #EndangeredSalmon #EndangeredSpecies #MarineLife

#EastportME Council unanimously adopts moratorium on #DeepGreen #UnderwaterDatacenter proposal

By Melissa S. Razdrih, August 13, 2026

EASTPORT — "The City Council voted unanimously Wednesday to enact a 180‑day moratorium that halts all progress on a proposed underwater artificial intelligence data center planned for waters off Eastport.

"Councilors said the move gives them time to consult with the Eastport Planning Board on the zoning impacts of two citizen-initiated ordinances designed to prevent data center projects in the city by amending the city’s Zoning and Shoreland Zoning ordinances.

"At the heart of the controversy is a project proposed by #LouisWolfson, a #LuxuryRealEstateDeveloper from Needham, Massachusetts, and the managing member of #DeepGreenHoldingsLLC.

"The company formed in Delaware one month before applying for Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or #FERC, preliminary permits to build tidal‑powered, underwater artificial intelligence data centers for both #DeepGreenWesternPassageSPV in #Maine and a second project in the #UpperCookInlet in #Alaska.

"The Alaska proposal has also faced #resistance from the local community.

"In February, DeepGreen filed a 48‑month preliminary permit application with FERC to begin engineering and environmental tests in Maine, a required first step toward developing an underwater #AIDatacenter in the #BayOfFundy .

"The application drew an almost immediate response from residents and #Passamaquoddy tribal officials, who strongly oppose the development. Among the most vocal opponents is the #EastportCoalitionForHealthyOceans, or #ECHO, which submitted two citizen petitions for ordinances intended to prevent the project and protect what the group describes as 'the character of the city.'

"FERC found multiple deficiencies in DeepGreen’s application, including failure to identify all Tribes affected by the project, failure to specify all physical dimensions and configurations required by statute, inclusion of maps that extended beyond the required project boundaries, and a lack of detailed technical explanation for a 400‑acre 'operational envelope' despite a much smaller active infrastructure footprint.

"In its response to FERC, DeepGreen supplied the requested names and contact information for Tribal leaders. The company also provided an updated map and revised technical specifications showing a significantly smaller proposal, reducing the original 400‑acre operational envelope in the Western Passage to an active infrastructure footprint of 27.1 acres.

"The company also told FERC that the 'total proposed project operational capacity has been scaled down to a maximum of 15 MW (megawatts) to align with revised commercial modeling,' compared to an earlier proposal that envisioned up to 51 MW. In the revised Phase I, DeepGreen projects installing 16 marine hydrokinetic turbines, increasing to 34 in Phase II. The original proposal called for 170 turbines.

"The permit application for the Alaska project received a similar letter of deficiencies from FERC, but the company has not indicated that the Alaska proposal is being scaled down."

Read more:
themainemonitor.org/eastport-adopts-moratorium-underwater-data-center-proposal/

#UnderwaterDatacenters #NoAI
#NoAIDatacenters #WaterIsLife
#OceansAreLife #BigTech #MainePol #PassamaquoddyNation #CenterForBiologicalDiversity
#Whales #EndangeredWhales #EndangeredSpecies

#Greenwashing at its finest! No mention of the harm that will be caused to #MarineLife by the #NoisePollution !

#Underwater AIDataCenter proposed off #EastportME

Project would rely on tidal power
BY EDWARD FRENCH

"Of the AI data center, Wolfson says, 'There’s a real need for it.' [BULLSHIT!] Noting that #datacenters utilize a great deal of energy, he wants to harness the energy of the tides to power the server racks, which would be underwater, with the surrounding water cooling them. Data centers generate massive amounts of heat and require intense cooling. Wolfson says other parts of the world are working on developing similar projects, with China having launched commercial‑scale undersea data centers to use seawater cooling for high‑performance computing.

"Along with the #WesternPassage site, the company has filed for a preliminary permit from FERC for a site at #CookInlet in #Alaska, which happens to be the location of another #ORPC tidal energy project."

https://www.islandinstitute.org/working-waterfront/underwater-ai-data-center-proposed-off-eastport/

#DeepGreenWesternPassageSPV #UnderwaterDatacenters #NoAI #NoAIDatacenters #WaterIsLife #OceansAreLife #BigTech #MainePol #PassamaquoddyNation #CenterForBiologicalDiversity #Whales #EndangeredWhales #EndangeredSpecies