May. 22 at 6:41 PM
Typically takes 2-3 years to build a data center, assuming the local community is on board. If they aren't, it could take longer. At the same time, grid upgrades can take 4-8 years, so AI companies are looking for faster ways to secure power
Currently, over 2,000 gigawatts await connection
One of the quickest ways to do that these days is to use existing nat gas infrastructure. Gas plants can often be built or expanded faster than nuclear projects (8-12 years), plug into an extensive pipeline network (3M+ miles), & provide greater energy security than renewable resources (95%+ uptime)
Because the regular electric grid is too slow to connect new facilities, companies like Microsoft, Google, & Meta are bypassing the grid completely. They are building on-site, "behind-the-meter" nat gas plants right next to their data centers to get immediate power.
Meta is adding 7 natural gas plants to its Hyperion data center in Louisiana. Chevron & Engine No. 1, which announced a partnership last year to build natural gas-powered plants next to US data centers, recently brought Microsoft into the fold & are now working to power a data center campus in West Texas. Google has also confirmed that it is working w/ Crusoe Energy to build nat gas plants to partially power its "Goodnight" data center campus in the Texas Panhandle
Building a nat gas power plant up-front costs roughly
$820K/MW vs building solar facilities costs
$1.6M/MW, wind costs
$1.45M/MW, & nuclear cost
$10M+/MW.
Note: Yielding capacity is lower in solar & wind by a factor of 4x, so you would need a 4MW facillity to match nuclear or nat gas baseload power
Also, physical footprint is lower for nat gas; 15-25 acres/1000MW vs nuclear at 30-40 acres/1000MW
$GEV $BE $ET $WMB $EQT