A Boston-based company with a global presence that is helping expand energy for U.S. data centers has announced a new 350 megawatt microgrid operation in New Albany.
Veolia, a global environmental services company, will operate and maintain a 350-megawatt microgrid, separate from the main power grid, to help operate the area's data center campus.
Details of the contract, the cost and with whom, were not disclosed. Adan Lisberg, company spokesman, told The Dispatch only "the client asked us not to name them."
The effort builds on other projects nationwide to help data centers operate reliably while reducing energy, water and waste impacts, according to a Veolia news release. The project will provide "100% of the power for an AI data center campus
in Ohio without relying on the traditional electric grid," the company said.
On July 30, The Dispatch wrote that Eolian was planning a "multi-hundreds" of million dollar battery storage operation for a similar purpose near Jug Street and Beech Road in Jersey Township in Licking County.
The Veolia plan would employ natural gas engines, linear generators, battery energy storage systems and medium-voltage infrastructure "into a coordinated energy platform supporting continuous AI operations," the company said.
On-site power generation and large-scale battery storage allow the microgrid to provide reliable, resilient power while reducing pressure on already constrained public electricity networks, the company said.
“Our work on this project shows how Veolia can help developers accelerate speed-to-power while maintaining the reliability required for mission-critical AI operations, all while protecting the community,” said Karin Hamel, CEO of Veolia Energy, North America in the news release.
As AI accelerates demand for electricity, water and other resources across the United States, developers of data centers face growing challenges securing power on the timelines required, the company said, citing a Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory study stating that new power projects spend an average of nearly five years in U.S. interconnection system. Private generation, battery storage and microgrids capable of operating independently from the electric grid bypass this process.
Veolia is expected to include a 430 MWh battery energy storage system and employ 35 to 40 full-time on-site personnel.
Growth and development reporter Dean Narciso can be reached at dnarciso@dispatch.com.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Powering data centers off the grid: Veolia is the lates in New Albany.
