Exascale Labs, a provider of AI compute infrastructure, announced it has entered into a non-binding memorandum of understanding with EnergyBank, a developer of energy storage technology, to explore the development and potential commercialization of grid-independent AI compute infrastructure powered by floating offshore wind and long-duration energy storage.
The MOU contemplates beginning with an initial pilot in collaboration with Zephyros-One, the world’s first floating offshore wind turbine – operated by Sustainable Energy Norway – to deliver up to 800kW of firm compute capacity. EnergyBank is expected to fund the initial pilot through a combination of private investment and potential public funding opportunities.
“AI infrastructure growth is not constrained by the lack of availability of advanced chips. Rather, it is due to the inability to secure and deliver power at the required scale and within commercially viable timelines,” said Hoansoo Lee, Chief Executive Officer of Exascale. “Currently, GPUs ship in weeks, and the facilities to house and power them take months or years to build. What makes this collaboration different is that we are assembling power generation, storage, cooling, and compute into a single integrated system from the outset. Our modular platform is purpose-built to operate off-grid, which means floating offshore wind farmed by EnergyBank’s technology can deliver compute-ready power without waiting years for a grid connection.”
A model for power-constrained AI infrastructure
Exascale and EnergyBank plan to explore a technical and commercial pathway, starting with the initial 800kW pilot deployment, to produce grid-independent, compute-ready power. The pilot is contemplated to include the deployment of Exascale’s modular data center. The companies also intend to develop a repeatable reference architecture for future multi-turbine, multi-module projects, potentially targeting up to 10MW of firm compute capacity per turbine.
By pairing EnergyBank’s energy storage technology with floating offshore wind infrastructure and Exascale’s factory-built modular data center deployment, the proposed architecture is designed to bypass the conventional grid connection, introducing a more sustainable path to building AI-ready data centers.
“As AI workloads grow denser, reliable power access has become the binding constraint on new datacenter capacity. By taking floating wind off-grid and integrating generation, storage and modular data centers into a single system, we can turn variable offshore power into firm, high-value compute without waiting years for a grid connection. Wind developers gain a direct route to market, compute operators gain access to new power capacity, and the overall project can capture substantially more value from the same energy asset,” said Tim Hawkey, Chief Executive Officer of EnergyBank. “In addition, EnergyBank is working to develop a blended pathway combining private investment and potentially non-dilutive public funding, which could provide an important foundation for demonstrating the model and, if successful, scaling it into larger deployments.”
Next steps
Under the MOU, the parties intend to conduct joint technical feasibility work, define a reference architecture for the pilot, and create a roadmap for scaling beyond the pilot. The MOU is non-binding and does not obligate either party to proceed with the pilot or any subsequent deployment. Any pilot or subsequent deployment remains subject to further technical evaluation, definitive agreements, financing, and applicable regulatory and other required approvals. There can be no assurance that the collaboration will result in a binding agreement, a completed project, or any commercial deployment.
Similar plans
The deal follows a similar proposal announced earlier this year from Aikido Technologies to integrate data center capacity within a floating wind turbine. A proof-of-concept unit is currently under development in Norway and is scheduled for deployment later this year. This offshore wind platform is expected to host a turbine with between 15 and 18MW of capacity, which would support 10-12MW of IT capacity.
