Google Plans Solar, Wind, Battery To Power Expanded Data Center

Solar photovoltaic (PV) panels, wind turbines, and two battery storage systems across three new plants will power Google’s upcoming data center in Mesa, overseeing cloud data from signature products like Search and Gmail. 

The data center will receive power from three facilities headed by local utility Salt River Project (SRP) and clean energy operator NextEra Energy Resources. The pair recently brought their 3,000-acre Sonoran Solar Energy Center online in Buckeye, about 55 miles from Mesa, with 260 MW of PV arrays charging a 1 GWh battery storage system. 

 

The site for Google’s upcoming data center in Mesa, Arizona. Image used courtesy of the City of Mesa Design Review Board

 

The 996-acre Storey Solar Energy Center also started operating 47 miles south of the city. It features 88 MW of PV capacity across more than 300,000 modules and 88 MW of storage. On a sunny day, both sites can generate power for nearly 80,000 homes and store energy for up to four hours to support the grid during peak demand. 

Finally, the 161 MW Babbitt Ranch Energy Center, which will include 50 General Electric wind turbines, is also expected to deliver power to the Google campus. It will come online in mid-2024. 

The data center will be Google’s first in Arizona. Construction started last year and is expected to wrap up in 2025. Documents filed with the City of Mesa Design Review Board show the development will require a utility switchyard, a medium-voltage substation, and other electrical infrastructure. Phase 1 will include a 288,530-square-foot building with associated equipment. 

Google stated the SRP power supply agreement will support over 430 MW of renewable capacity in the state, helping its operations reach at least an 80% share of carbon-free energy hourly by 2026. 

 

Powering Data Centers

The renewable capacity from NextEra and SRP supports Google’s 2030 target to run its data centers and offices on 24/7 carbon-free energy. The facility will utilize air-cooled technology to boost efficiency and avoid impacting the local watershed. The responsible water framework Google used in planning the facility found that the local water source, the Colorado River, was at risk of depletion and scarcity, prompting the selection of an air-cooled strategy. 

 

A Google data center in Belgium. Image used courtesy of Google

 

Such facilities are notoriously energy-intensive. Google’s 2023 Environmental Report mentioned that the electricity demands of its data centers are the primary reason why its Scope 2 footprint (indirect emissions from electricity) represents about one-fourth of its carbon emissions. 

Data centers and associated data transmission networks consume up to 1.5% of global electricity each, according to the International Energy Agency. Efficiency improvements have kept that share limited for now, but soaring demand adds new challenges. A recent report by Newmark projects that U.S. data center demand will hit 35 GW by 2030, rising from 17 GW in 2022. 

Google designs and operates its data centers to maximize efficiency while keeping pace with global computing demand, incorporating strategies like using outside air for cooling, custom servers, and 80°F temperatures. 

 

Google balances the energy intensity of its data centers through power purchase agreements for wind and solar capacity. Image used courtesy of Google (Page 41, Figure 15) 

 

On average, Google claims its data centers are 1.5 times as efficient as a standard enterprise facility. The company delivers about triple as much computing with the same amount of electrical power used five years ago. 

Another way Google balances the energy intensity of its data centers is through power purchase agreements with entities like SRP. Google has procured clean energy for over a decade to reduce its electricity footprint. From 2010 to 2022, the company secured over 80 agreements totaling 10 GW of renewable generation capacity, roughly translating to more than 31 million solar panels. 

 

Renderings of Google’s data center in Arizona. Images used courtesy of the City of Mesa Design Review Board (Pages 136 and 151)

 

Boosting SRP’s Clean Energy Resource Capacity

Excess energy from the data center will resupply the needs of SRP, a public power utility serving more than 1 million customers in the Phoenix metro area. 

According to its Integrated System Plan, SRP will need to double or triple its resource capacity in the next decade amid the retirement of 2.6 GW of coal resources. Arizona is phasing out fossil fuels, with coal only supplying 12% of the state’s total net generation, down from 38% in 2013. Meanwhile, the state is ramping up renewables like solar (with a 10% share of the generation mix), hydroelectric power (5%), and wind (1%), per data from the Energy Information Administration. 

 

In 2023, SRP added a 100 MW battery storage system to its 100 MW Saint Solar Energy Center in Coolidge, Arizona. Image used courtesy of NextEra Energy Resources

 

SRP’s Integrated System Plan intends to offset the loss of 1.3 GW of coal capacity and another retiring agreement with a natural gas plant by adding 7 GW of renewables, 1 GW of long-duration pumped hydro storage, 1.5 GW of battery storage, and 2 GW of firm natural gas capacity. 

This new capacity and other projects expected to come online in the next few years would help SRP meet a 40% increase in energy demand by 2035. Regional migration, more large customers like data centers, and the adoption of electric vehicles all contribute to this projected growth, necessitating significant capacity additions and infrastructure upgrades for SRP’s service area. 

SRP has more than 2.3 GW of carbon-free energy resources, including over 1 GW of solar and 600 MW of batteries and pumped hydro storage. Several projects are under development. Once operational, they will bring SRP’s solar capacity to over 2.4 GW and battery capacity to 1.1 GW by late 2024.