In May 2020, Nautilus Data Technologies secured a $100 million financing agreement with Orion Energy Partners to complete a planned floating data center in Stockton, California, and support other projects in its pipeline. The announcement described a 6MW facility that Nautilus expected to commission in the fourth quarter of 2020; that schedule was a forecast, not confirmation that the facility opened on time.
Who funded Nautilus, and what was the money for?
Data Center Knowledge reported on May 28, 2020, that Orion Energy Partners, a private equity investor focused on energy infrastructure, had agreed to provide Nautilus with $100 million. Nautilus said the financing would fund completion of its California project and support additional data center projects. The announcement did not break down how much was allocated to the Stockton facility versus other work. Data Center Knowledge’s May 28, 2020 report is the source for the deal and project details.
Where was the floating data center being built?
The project involved a purpose-built computing vessel at Mare Island, on a San Pablo Bay peninsula in Vallejo, California. Nautilus planned to move it through nearby waterways to Stockton, where it would be berthed and fitted with data center electrical and mechanical infrastructure, then connected to shore power and fiber.
As reported in May 2020, civil works, a utility pad and connection, and a fiber loop were complete at the Stockton site. Warehouse and office construction was still under way. The planned facility had 6MW of capacity, and Nautilus said it aimed to commission it in the fourth quarter of 2020. The article records that target, not a verified completion or operating date. CEO James Connaughton said at the time, “The vessel-based facility and installation of major mechanical systems is largely complete at Mare Island,” as quoted in the report.
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How did Nautilus say its water cooling would work?
The 2020 article described Nautilus’s patented TRUE (Total Resource Usage Effectiveness) cooling system as using water rather than air as its cooling medium. It said the design adapted maritime and industrial water-cooling technologies for data center use. Connaughton attributed a capability of more than 100kW per rack to the system. Those are company claims relayed by the article; it supplied no independent measurements, benchmark results, or comparison demonstrating efficiency or performance against other cooling systems. Data Center Knowledge.
What else did the 2020 report say about Nautilus?
The article said Keppel had invested $10 million in Nautilus to explore whether its technology was suitable for Singapore, which it characterized as land-constrained. It also reported that another floating data center was under development in Limerick, Ireland, and that Nautilus could build land-based data centers using its cooling technology. These were project and market references in the 2020 report, not confirmation of their current status.
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Orion managing partner Gerrit Nicholas said Nautilus had multiple customers at the time. He described them as having selected the company for “its significant commercial and environmental benefits,” and said Orion wanted to work with Nautilus and existing shareholders to accelerate additional deployments. These statements reflect the investor’s position in the announcement; the article did not independently verify customer numbers or environmental benefits. Data Center Knowledge’s account.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the announcement does—and does not—establish
The story establishes the terms of the 2020 financing announcement, the planned Stockton project, its then-reported construction progress, and Nautilus’s stated cooling claims. It does not establish whether Stockton was commissioned on schedule, whether the Limerick project proceeded, the facility’s present operating status or ownership, or independently measured performance of TRUE cooling. The financing and capacity figures are deal and project details reported at the time, not third-party validation of the technology.
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