Blue OTEC — OTEC Power Solutions
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How It Works

How OTEC Subsea Datacenters Work

Integrated system

OTEC operating with a subsea datacenter

Warm surface water and the datacenter's residual heat drive ammonia evaporation. The vapor spins a turbine to produce clean power that is fed back to compute. Cold deep-sea water condenses the ammonia, closing the loop.

OTEC subsea datacenter integrated cycleWarm surface water and datacenter residual heat evaporate ammonia. The vapor drives a turbine producing clean power that returns to the compute module. Cold deep-sea water condenses the ammonia, closing the loop.OCEAN SURFACE · ~25°C WARMDEEP WATER · ~5°C COLD (~1000 m)1 · Warm intake buoy2 · SUBSEA DATACENTERresidual heat →3 · Evaporator4 · Turbine5 · CondenserAmmonia closed loop⚡ 6 · Clean power back to compute7 · Cold intake
Step 1: warm surface water enters via a buoy. Step 2: it reaches the subsea datacenter module. Step 3: combined heat evaporates ammonia in the evaporator. Step 4: ammonia vapor spins the turbine. Step 5: vapor is condensed back to liquid. Step 6: clean electricity returns to the compute payload. Step 7: cold deep-sea water is drawn up to enable condensation.
  1. 1

    Warm intake buoy

    ~25 °C surface water

  2. 2

    Subsea datacenter

    Compute payload, liquid-cooled

  3. 3

    Evaporator

    Heat vaporizes ammonia

  4. 4

    Turbine

    Vapor drives generator

  5. 5

    Condenser

    Cold water condenses vapor

  6. 6

    Clean power loop

    Electricity returns to compute

  7. 7

    Cold intake

    ~5 °C deep water (~1000 m)

    1

    Datacenter workloads generate heat

    Subsea computing modules produce residual thermal energy during operation.

    2

    Residual heat supports ammonia evaporation

    Recovered heat from the datacenter, together with the ocean thermal gradient, helps evaporate ammonia in the thermodynamic cycle.

    3

    Ammonia vapor drives a turbine

    Ammonia vapor expands and powers a turbine connected to a generator.

    4

    Deep cold ocean water condenses the ammonia

    Cold deep-sea water condenses the ammonia, allowing the cycle to restart.

    5

    Integrated cooling reduces HVAC demand

    The ocean environment supports efficient thermal management for subsea datacenter modules, reducing the energy load required for cooling.

The OTEC cycle

Closed thermodynamic loop

A continuous closed thermodynamic loop integrating computing, energy and cooling.

OTECCYCLEDatacenter residual heatAmmonia evaporationTurbinePower generationDeep cold ocean waterCondensationIntegrated coolingClosed thermodynamic cycle