Kenai asks to join the federal review of a proposed undersea data center in Cook Inlet

The city of Kenai has asked to become a party to the federal review of a Massachusetts company's proposal to study hundreds of tidal turbines and dozens of underwater computer pods in Cook Inlet.

The City Council voted unanimously Oct. 7 to intervene, and the city filed its motion with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Oct. 13. The Kenai Peninsula Borough and the Alaska Commercial Fisheries Conservation Alliance, a fishing industry group, have also filed to intervene.

DeepGreen Cook Inlet SPV, LLC, of Needham, Massachusetts, wants to study a project off the East Foreland, according to its Federal Register notice. The project would consist of about 330 to 350 tidal turbines and 66 "subsea-compute hives," data center pods cooled by the inlet's water and powered directly by the turbines. A 3.5-mile power and fiber-optic cable would come ashore in the Nikiski industrial area between the Agrium nitrogen plant and the Kenai LNG plant. The array would generate an estimated 100 megawatts, mostly for the data center. Spare power could go to the Railbelt grid.

For now, the company is seeking only a preliminary permit. That would give it priority to apply for a license, but would not allow any construction.

Intervening doesn't necessarily signal support or opposition, City Manager Terry Eubank told the council in September. It preserves the city's standing as a party.

Others have already raised concerns. At a September council meeting, Russell Clark, president of the fisheries alliance, said the application contains no thermal plume model and no assessment of what happens at slack tide, when the current stops, Alaska News reported. The conservation group Cook Inletkeeper said in September that FERC had received nearly 40 individual comments, which it described as mostly or entirely opposed.

Comments and motions to intervene are due by 5 pm Eastern time Nov. 2. Anyone can comment online under docket P-15423-000. Alaska News first reported the proposal Sept. 8.