Intelligent CIO North America Issue 33 | Page 53

FEATURE : DATA CENTERS

USA to get first of its kind green integrated energy center

Ambitious project comes to a state actively securing its status as the world ’ s biggest data center market with an incentive program including tax exemptions .

Plans for the first of its kind green data center in America have been unveiled . Green Energy Partners LLC of Virginia ( GEP ) – a property and project development company passionate about generating sustainable carbon-free energy – has secured 641 acres in Surry County , VA .

There , it intends to build Surry Green Energy Center ( SGEC ) as the nation ’ s first integrated Green Energy Center . This ambitious project includes the building of 1-gigawatt of data centers , establishing a Green Hydrogen Hub and , over time , deploying four to six small modular reactors ( SMRs ) each generating on the order of 250 MWe each . The SGEC may also incorporate energy storage capabilities to balance supply and demand at the fully integrated site .
“ The health of humanity and the world is at stake . Locations like this 641-acre green energy hub will protect millions of acres of forestry , wildlife and human lives by reducing carbon in our atmosphere ,” said Jack Andrews , CEO Green Energy Partners of Virginia .
The SGEC vision is to begin constructing the data centers now , with electricity provided by the grid .
In the future , the data centers would interconnect to new , carbon-free sustainable power from the colocated on-site SMRs .
Today ’ s reliable SMRs and advanced reactors , like the recently approved NuScale VOYGR SMR , can not only create carbon-free electricity , but can also be used to power highly efficient electrolysis processes
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