Google offers deal for 780 MW data center in Minnesota — OilPrice
Google has offered energy company Xcel Energy an agreement to supply electricity to the planned 780 MW Project Skyway data center in Pine Island, Minnesota. The company plans to finance the addition of 1.4 GW of wind generation, 200 MW of solar power and 300 MW of energy storage systems to the grid, OilPrice reports.
Payment terms and consumer protection
The proposed agreement model provides financial guarantees for other electricity consumers if Google reduces consumption or withdraws from the project. In particular, the company must make minimum monthly payments calculated on at least 75% of the contracted capacity, even if its actual consumption is lower.
If the agreement is terminated early, Google could face payments equivalent to eight years of minimum payments. Amanda Rome, Xcel Energy's vice president and chief customer officer, said these mechanisms are intended to prevent a situation in which the costs of new infrastructure are left without a funding source.
The Clean Energy Accelerator Charge model is currently awaiting approval from the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission. It is based on the Clean Transition Tariff, which Google previously developed together with NV Energy.
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Residents' objections and environmental issues
Google says the project could benefit the power grid and help the company achieve its goal of fully transitioning to carbon-free energy by 2030. At the same time, some Pine Island residents oppose the construction: in a survey conducted from August 1 to 31, 75.8% of participants spoke out against Project Skyway.
The initial Alternative Urban Area Review assessment indicated that the data center would consume about 55.7 million gallons of water annually. This would mean an increase in the city's total water consumption of approximately 50%. Environmental groups also raised concerns over the lack of a comprehensive analysis of the impact on groundwater, while opponents of the project questioned the possible discharge of wastewater into the Zumbro River.
The Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy filed a lawsuit against the city of Pine Island, stating that the project's environmental study was vague, initially did not identify Google as the end user and did not disclose impacts on energy consumption, water, noise and generator operations.
Growing demand from data centers
According to an estimate by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, data centers could consume 11.8% of all U.S. electricity by 2030. The U.S. Energy Information Administration forecasts that by 2050, data center servers will use between 446 billion and 818 billion kWh of electricity per year.
