Google bets $17bn on first data center in Wyoming
Google announced on Thursday a long-term $17 billion investment to build its first data center in the US state of Wyoming, Anadolu Agency reports.
The tech giant partnered with Tallgrass Energy, Black Hills Energy, American Electric Power (AEP), and Related Digital for the project located in Laramie County.
The development is contracted with AEP to feature a 702-megawatt commercial-scale fuel cell installation with carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology, marking the largest planned project of its kind.
Bloom Energy will manufacture the natural gas-powered fuel cells in the US, while Tallgrass will permanently store captured carbon emissions at its Eastern Wyoming Sequestration Hub.
The new agreement brings Google's total contracted carbon capture and storage capacity in the country to nearly 1 gigawatt.
The company noted that the facility will be air-cooled to minimize strain on local water resources, while also sourcing electricity from gas generators operated by Tallgrass and Black Hills Energy.
The investment is expected to generate hundreds of millions of dollars in local property taxes for Laramie County and School District 1, according to the company.
Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported that Finland ordered Google's subsidiary to halt work at 2 planned data centers.