Microsoft and Chevron on Monday announced plans to develop a 2.67-gigawatt natural gas power plant in West Texas to serve the tech company’s AI and cloud data centers.
Under a 20-year power purchase agreement, the plant will provide dedicated power to a data center operated by Microsoft. Two large GE Vernova turbines will generate most of the electricity, with a Caterpillar auxiliary solar turbine providing the rest. (The name solar turbine may sound familiar – xAI uses these unpermitted power plant Near Memphis.) Microsoft will buy electricity from the power plant for 20 years.
The project will be “one of the largest co-located natural gas power and data center developments in the US,” Chevron said in a statement. Press release.
Although Microsoft has been telegraphing this move Several months on now, this is still a significant change for a company that has been vocal about its sustainability efforts. Microsoft has pledged to eliminate its carbon emissions by 2030, a goal that will be difficult to achieve with this new power plant.
Project Kilby, as the power plant is known, will potentially emit more than 13 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, 3,200 tonnes of which are 1,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide. criteria air pollutantsand 278,000 pounds hazardous air pollutants, According For Environmental Integrity Project.
