DeepGreen proposes underwater AI data center in Alaska's Cook Inlet
DeepGreen Cook Inlet SPV has proposed an underwater AI data center powered by as many as 350 tidal turbines on the seabed of Cook Inlet off the Kenai Peninsula. Local officials and environmental advocates are raising concerns about limited oversight, potential noise impacts on endangered Cook Inlet beluga whales, and the project's scale, while DeepGreen says its preliminary permit would not authorize construction and that it will comply with marine protections.
DeepGreen Cook Inlet SPV is seeking a preliminary federal permit for an unprecedented subsea AI data center in Cook Inlet, off Alaska's Kenai Peninsula. The concept would use sealed server pods and up to 350 tidal turbines to provide continuous power and closed-loop ocean cooling without consuming fresh water. DeepGreen says the permit would authorize studies only, not seabed disturbance, turbine installation, dredging, cooling-water discharge or navigation exclusion zones.
Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Peter Micciche criticized the lack of communication and said local governments do not have adequate rules for emerging data-center technologies. Cooper Freeman of the Alaska Center for Biological Diversity warned that construction and operational noise could harm the approximately 300 endangered Cook Inlet belugas, and the organization filed to intervene before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to oppose the permit. Borough leaders plan to seek state oversight guidelines, while DeepGreen says it will coordinate with federal and state wildlife agencies and abandon the project if it cannot operate safely and within marine-mammal noise limits.