French startup Denv-R has launched its debut floating data center in Nantes.

Local press report the company this week launched its debut facility in the city on the river Loire on Quai Wilson Street.

Denv-r Nantes via Pôle S2E2
– Pôle S2E2

After revealing its concept in 2022, plans for the 200kW facility were first announced in April 2023. Previous reports said the 100 sqm (1,075 sq ft) container – covered in solar panels – would be installed on a float developed by Geps Techno, a developer of offshore buoys, and host four racks.

"It is the culmination of seven years of work, including four years dedicated to finding funding, R&D, and design,” said Denv-R founders Vincent Le Breton and Maxime Rozier.

"We are proposing a floating structure that will not consume land and will use water from the Loire to cool its systems, unlike the air-conditioned rooms required," added Le Breton.

The idea of a floating data center is similar to the barges pioneered by the US company Nautilus, which has a floating facility in California, alongside one in development in Ireland, and a land-based data center in Maine.

Denv-R says its system will be smaller than Nautilus', making it more suitable for deployment on urban rivers. It also circulates water passively, without the need for pumps. The company claims its platforms are “unsinkable.”

Founded in 2011, Geps Techno develops smart buoys and platforms. Its Wavegem Platform combines on-platform solar and wave generation to power on-board or nearby payloads. Last year the company partnered with Meta to explore whether its platforms could be used to power subsea cables mid-ocean.

“The GEPS Techno teams are proud to have accompanied you in the design of the float and in the energy efficiency studies since the beginning of this project,” GEPS said on LinkedIn.

Previous reports suggest Denv-R is also developing an offshore version, which will rely on the power of the ocean swell to produce energy.

Keppel – which has previously invested in Nautilus – is also planning a hydrogen-powered floating data center park in Singapore.

Digital Realty is known to use river cooling in France and the UK, while Green Mountain is set to deploy a river-cooled system at its upcoming facility in Germany.