In a move to merge digital infrastructure with climate resilience, five Japanese entities – Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha ( NYK Line ), NTT Facilities, Eurus Energy, MUFG Bank and the City of Yokohama – have signed a memorandum of understanding to develop the world’s first offshore floating green data centre.

The project, slated for pilot launch in the third quarter of 2025, will be built on a 25-metre by 80-metre floating platform near Yokohama’s Osanbashi Pier. It will house a container-style data centre powered entirely by solar energy and battery storage, operating fully off-grid with zero greenhouse gas emissions.

MUFG will contribute financial expertise and its expansive network to explore co-creation opportunities for this next-generation data centre venture. This latest initiative is part of MUFG’s broader effort to position itself not just as a financier, but as a co-developer of climate-aligned digital infrastructure.

Asia-Pacific already accounts for nearly 40% of the US$400 billion global data centre market, and demand is continuing to grow. Earlier this month, MUFG co-financed a 21.7-billion-rupee ( US$252.73 million ) loan with JBIC and Mizuho Bank to support NTT’s data centre expansion in India, reinforcing its role in shaping digital infrastructure across the region.

The demonstration phase for the floating green data centre will assess the facility’s resilience in marine conditions and its ability to operate autonomously on renewable energy. If successful, this scalable model, the bank argues, could be deployed along Japan’s coastline, particularly in areas with offshore wind farms. It offers a solution to land scarcity, construction delays, and the environmental footprint of traditional data centres.

By uniting renewable energy, digitalization and maritime engineering, the project offers a potential blueprint for sustainable infrastructure, particularly relevant for urban port cities like Yokohama, which face both land constraints and disaster risk.

Financial hubs, such as Hong Kong and Singapore, with robust harbour infrastructure, could also emerge as strong candidate locations for similar floating data centre innovations.