Amazon builds a massive 7.65-gigawatt gas plant in Texas to power its AI
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To keep up with huge AI demands, Amazon is building a dedicated power plant in Pecos County, Texas, running entirely off the public grid. 🏭
The new GW Ranch project relies on 35 gas turbines to feed electricity straight to AWS data centers without touching local power lines. Running those turbines around the clock comes with a massive environmental toll. The facility will pump out an estimated 33 million tons of greenhouse gases every single year. That makes it the single largest individual source of pollution in the entire country.
To see how extreme this is, look at the previous American record holder. The coal-burning James H. Miller Jr. power plant in Alabama held the top pollution spot for nine years, but it emitted only about half that amount. Other tech giants are doing the same thing to feed their massive servers. Meta expanded its gas plant orders in Louisiana to 5.2 gigawatts, and xAI deployed dozens of turbines near Memphis without waiting for proper permits. 📉
Building private power stations shows how desperate tech companies are for electricity. When progress requires burning millions of tons of gas just for server racks, the energy crisis stops being abstract.
#Amazon #DataCenters #TechNews
The Verge
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⚠️
To keep up with huge AI demands, Amazon is building a dedicated power plant in Pecos County, Texas, running entirely off the public grid. 🏭
The new GW Ranch project relies on 35 gas turbines to feed electricity straight to AWS data centers without touching local power lines. Running those turbines around the clock comes with a massive environmental toll. The facility will pump out an estimated 33 million tons of greenhouse gases every single year. That makes it the single largest individual source of pollution in the entire country.
To see how extreme this is, look at the previous American record holder. The coal-burning James H. Miller Jr. power plant in Alabama held the top pollution spot for nine years, but it emitted only about half that amount. Other tech giants are doing the same thing to feed their massive servers. Meta expanded its gas plant orders in Louisiana to 5.2 gigawatts, and xAI deployed dozens of turbines near Memphis without waiting for proper permits. 📉
Building private power stations shows how desperate tech companies are for electricity. When progress requires burning millions of tons of gas just for server racks, the energy crisis stops being abstract.
A private grid means nobody shares the power, but everyone shares the smoke.
#Amazon #DataCenters #TechNews
The Verge
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👎2
New 22.9kV Transformer for Data Centers
Engineers have built the world's first 22.9kV solid-state transformer to help power heavy-duty data centers. ⚡
You know how massive server farms need staggering amounts of electricity to run your favorite apps and games? Local power networks are struggling to keep up with that hunger. This new piece of hardware acts like a smart, heavy-duty power adapter designed to fix that exact problem.
Here is what makes this technology stand out:
➖ It tackles severe grid bottlenecks that currently slow down tech expansion.
➖ It offers a much more compact footprint than older power distribution units.
➖ It handles high-voltage electricity with significantly better energy efficiency.
#technology #datacenters #innovation
Interesting Engineering
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Engineers have built the world's first 22.9kV solid-state transformer to help power heavy-duty data centers. ⚡
You know how massive server farms need staggering amounts of electricity to run your favorite apps and games? Local power networks are struggling to keep up with that hunger. This new piece of hardware acts like a smart, heavy-duty power adapter designed to fix that exact problem.
Here is what makes this technology stand out:
➖ It tackles severe grid bottlenecks that currently slow down tech expansion.
➖ It offers a much more compact footprint than older power distribution units.
➖ It handles high-voltage electricity with significantly better energy efficiency.
Smart engineering is keeping the grid alive.
#technology #datacenters #innovation
Interesting Engineering
Subscribe