Data Center W. "Carbon Capture" Would Mean Buildling The Largest NG Power Plant In The Entire State Of Nebraska

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According to documents obtained by the Flatwater Free Press and Grist, Tenaska appears poised to build a utility-scale natural gas plant to power one of the largest data centers in the country. The documents suggest that Google would operate the data center and that the project may also be one of the largest test cases for carbon capture and storage, a controversial way to deal with runaway emissions that has not yet proven effective as a solution for climate change. Nebraska, like many other states, is approaching a tipping point as it relates to energy demand, who can afford to supply it, how practical its emissions goals are, and the desire for economic activity to steadily grow. A recent report by the energy research and development nonprofit Electric Power Research Institute found that Nebraska is one of seven states that is on track to have data centers use over 20 percent of their total electricity consumption by 2030.

At the same time, a bill intended to allow for the creation of privately owned and operated power plants that serve large industrial facilities and are hooked up to the grid is being considered by the state legislature. Tenaska has publicly supported the bill, which was proposed by Governor Jim Pillen. The proposal could hinge on this bill’s passage. According to the documents, which were shared at a private meeting of a Nebraska public power district in January, the proposed data center would use between 1,000 and 3,000 megawatts of power from a combined-cycle natural gas plant. If the facility were to operate at the higher end of that range, it would generate more power than the largest power plant in the state. “In the U.S., there’s nothing that large with CCS,” he said, using the acronym for carbon capture and storage.

The scope of the company’s proposal, as outlined in the documents, is massive. The data center itself would be among the largest in the country, according to Kenneth Gillingham, a professor of environmental and energy economics at Yale University.The amount of power would be significantly more than the 800 megawatts needed across Lincoln Electric System’s service area in the summer when energy demand is at its highest. The gas plant would be the largest power plant in Nebraska. And if the project does incorporate carbon capture and storage, it would be the largest operation of its kind in the country, Gillingham said.

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Much like the overall proposal, though, it’s unclear if the carbon capture piece will actually materialize. Although the documents obtained by Flatwater and Grist specifically mention Tallgrass as the potential natural gas supplier and transporter of the captured carbon, Steven Davidson, Tallgrass’ senior vice president of government and public affairs, said the company currently does not have partnerships for a new data center or a Tenaska gas plant in Nebraska.

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https://grist.org/accountability/google-data-center-carbon-capture-nebraska/