Texas Waters See the Rise of Floating Datacenters
Efforts to establish floating datacenters in the US are finally gaining traction, as Samsung Heavy Industries and Mousterian Corporation sign an engineering agreement. Mousterian, based in Dallas and whimsically describing itself as “a developer of water-adjacent datacenter infrastructure,” indicates that this contract pertains to its inaugural project in Texas. The collaborative pair aims to provide customized moored data centers for the US market, each featuring an impressive 50 MW of essential IT capacity.
Design and Engineering – Full Speed Ahead
As part of the new arrangement, Mousterian and Samsung will collaborate on the fundamental design, detailed engineering, and production design of their floating innovations. Their objective is to pave the way for a definitive Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) contract, with the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) endorsing the floating establishments. These configurations may evade land competition, can be repositioned as necessary, and can utilize nearby water for cooling. Mousterian asserts that its designs implement non-evaporative cooling that consumes no drinkable water and discharges no harmful substances into local waterways. The company also believes eliminating air-cooled chillers and fans will reduce noise pollution.
Samsung Ventures into Floating Server Farms
This year, Samsung Heavy Industries entered the floating server farm arena, looking to leverage its shipbuilding and offshore expertise into successful datacenter ventures. Last month, GadgetLad reported that the South Korean giant collaborated with server specialist Supermicro to experiment with AI server systems in river and offshore environments, aiming for a 2028 rollout of its first operational installation. This pilot with Mousterian intends to demonstrate that floating data facilities situated next to existing power plants can enable hyperscale and AI capacity to come online faster than conventional sites.
Houston, Here Comes a Data Hall
The pilot facility is anticipated to dock alongside an existing combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power plant in Houston. “Finalizing this engineering contract propels our Samsung Heavy Industries collaboration from discussion to implementation, offering us a clear path to expand factory-built critical IT capacity for AI-grade facilities,” stated Mousterian executive Min Suh. “Since the facility is produced in a shipyard, fabrication progress can occur concurrently with sitework rather than waiting for it—something traditional delivery methods cannot match.” Samsung Heavy Industries CEO Sung-an Choi emphasized that waterborne server farms represent a natural advancement of the engineering skills they’ve honed over fifty years in offshore and maritime construction. “In collaboration with Mousterian, we aspire to produce floating datacenters with the same quality, enthusiasm, and reliable timelines that typify our maritime legacy,” he added.
Possible Challenges in Texas
However, prepare for potential obstacles, as Texas governor Greg Abbott has temporarily halted datacenter project approvals seeking to connect to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) grid until state regulators review their connection requests. ERCOT is currently evaluating over 474 GW of new connection requests—more than five times the state’s peak electricity demand—as stated by Abbott. Datacenters comprise 90 percent of those requests. Abbott requires detailed information from these projects regarding power sourcing and anticipated water use. Should any project disregard the stipulations established by PUCT and ERCOT, they will face denial of connection.
Summary: Lowering the Mooring Line
It appears that Samsung and Mousterian are eager to set these floating datacenters in motion, but Texas may have its own considerations. If they navigate the regulatory hurdles, we may witness technology advancing faster than my Jack Russell pursuing a tennis ball.
