In May 2020, Nautilus Data Technologies secured a $100 million financing agreement with Orion Energy Partners to complete a planned floating data center in Stockton, California, and support other projects. At the time, the 6MW facility was still being fitted out, and its planned fourth-quarter 2020 commissioning was a forecast—not proof that it opened on schedule.
Who funded Nautilus’s floating data center?
Data Center Knowledge reported on May 28, 2020, that Orion Energy Partners, a private equity investor focused on energy infrastructure, had agreed to provide Nautilus with $100 million. The financing was intended to finish the California project and support additional data center projects in the company’s pipeline. Data Center Knowledge’s May 28, 2020 report described the agreement; it did not establish the facility’s later operating status.
Orion managing partner Gerrit Nicholas said at the time: “Nautilus is well positioned to set the standard for providing sustainable and reliable data center services to its customers, who have selected Nautilus for its significant commercial and environmental benefits,” according to the report. Nicholas also said: “Orion Energy is eager to partner with the Nautilus team and its existing shareholders to accelerate the deployment of additional environmentally innovative data centers in this high growth sector.” These are investor statements from 2020, not independent evaluations of performance.
Where was the project, and what work remained?
The purpose-built computing vessel was at Mare Island, on a San Pablo Bay peninsula in Vallejo, California. Nautilus planned to move it through nearby waterways to Stockton, where it would be berthed and fitted with data center electrical and mechanical systems, then connected to shore power and fiber. The 2020 report said the Stockton site’s civil works, utility pad and connection, and fiber loop were complete, while warehouse and office construction was still under way.
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The planned Stockton facility had a capacity of 6MW. Nautilus said it planned to commission the data center in the fourth quarter of 2020, but the report records that schedule as a forecast only. It does not confirm that commissioning occurred then, or establish the project’s current status.
Nautilus CEO James Connaughton said in the same report: “The vessel-based facility and installation of major mechanical systems is largely complete at Mare Island,” describing progress at the time rather than the completed Stockton installation.
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How was Nautilus’s cooling system described?
The report described Nautilus’s patented TRUE (Total Resource Usage Effectiveness) system as using water as its cooling medium instead of air. It said the design adapted maritime and industrial water-cooling technologies for data center use. Connaughton attributed a capability of more than 100kW per rack to the system. These were company claims relayed in the 2020 article; it offered no independent measurements, comparative results, or validation of cooling efficiency.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What other Nautilus projects did the 2020 report mention?
The article said Keppel had invested $10 million in Nautilus to explore whether the technology was suitable for Singapore, which it characterized as land-constrained. It also reported that another floating data center was under development in Limerick, Ireland, and that Nautilus could build land-based data centers using its cooling technology. These are descriptions of plans and activity reported in 2020, not confirmation of their subsequent progress.
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Orion’s Nicholas also said Nautilus had multiple customers, as reported at the time. That statement does not establish a current customer count.
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