Jul 17, 2026 | Posted by Abdul-Rahman Oladimeji
UK oil and gas company Orcadian has proposed an offshore data center in the North Sea powered by a natural gas plant using gas from its Earlham and Orwell fields. The company plans to generate power offshore, capture the resulting CO₂ emissions, and store them in the Earlham reservoir. Orcadian said the approach could be more effective than transporting the gas to shore due to the field’s high CO₂ content and storage potential.
The proposed offshore data center would be connected to a power platform, with the first phase targeting 200MW of capacity. Orcadian said the project could scale beyond 1GW by adding more power stations and data halls without relying on the national grid. The company is creating a subsidiary, Earlham Gigagrid Ltd, to oversee the development and plans to transfer ownership of the gas field license, subject to regulatory approval. Orcadian estimates the Earlham and Orwell fields contain a combined 145 bcf of gas.
Orcadian expects hyperscalers such as Google, Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft, as well as neocloud providers including CoreWeave, Nebius, Lambda Labs, Crusoe Cloud, and Vultr, to potentially develop the offshore power and data center facilities. The company said Earlham Gigagrid is structured to allow external investment without diluting existing Orcadian shareholders. CEO Steve Brown said the project could significantly increase the value of the company’s P2680 license by providing low-carbon offshore power for data centers.
“That is why we have established Gigagrid. Orcadian intends to develop the project opportunity, to invite proposals to participate from third-party investors, and at the right stage to invite participation in the project from among the hyperscalers and the growing band of Neo-scalers who may find the opportunity to expand the project to gigawatt scale attractive.”
