UK Oil and Gas Firm Orcadian Proposes 200MW Offshore Data Center Powered by Natural Gas in the North Sea

UK-based oil and gas exploration and development company Orcadian Energy plc has unveiled early-stage plans to build an offshore data center in the British North Sea, powered by a natural gas power plant located on-site. The proposal marks the company’s first foray into digital infrastructure and represents a novel approach to combining fossil fuel extraction with carbon capture and data center development.

The facility would run on gas supplied from Orcadian’s Earlham and Orwell fields. The company has commenced an assessment phase to develop the gas fields, under which gas produced at the sites would be burned on-site to generate electricity. Carbon dioxide generated during combustion would be captured and pumped back into the Earlham reservoir for long-term storage. Orcadian claims this approach is more effective than piping gas to shore, noting that the Earlham gas is 49 percent carbon dioxide, which it says demonstrates the reservoir’s capacity to hold CO2 underground over extended timescales.

The data center would be linked to a dedicated power station platform, with the first phase expected to support a 200MW data center hall. Orcadian said it could later add more power stations and data center halls, reaching more than a gigawatt of power capacity without drawing on the national grid. To facilitate the project, the company is establishing a new subsidiary, Earlham Gigagrid Ltd, to run the development and plans to transfer its full ownership of the gas field license to the subsidiary. This move is subject to approval from the North Sea Transition Authority.

Orcadian estimates that the Earlham site holds 114 billion cubic feet (bcf) of gas, with redevelopment of the depleted Orwell field adding another 31 bcf. Gas from the two fields would be blended to achieve an average methane content of 50 percent. The company said it expects hyperscalers such as Google, Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft, or neoscalers including CoreWeave, Nebius, Lambda Labs, Crusoe Cloud, and Vultr, to eventually build out the power station and data center. The company noted that Gigagrid is structured so that outside investors can participate in the project without diluting current Orcadian shareholders' stakes.

Steve Brown, chief executive of Orcadian, said: “We believe that this development concept for Earlham, focused on generating low-carbon power offshore to supply an offshore data center, can be transformational for the value of our P2680 license. 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.” Brown added that the company will engage with the NSTA and other regulators to support the project's delivery.

The project underscores a growing trend of behind-the-meter energy solutions for data centers, particularly as operators seek to secure reliable, low-carbon power sources independent of strained national grids. By integrating carbon capture and storage directly with gas-fired generation, Orcadian’s proposal aims to address both energy security and emissions concerns, though the plan remains in a very early assessment phase.