Amazon to finance huge US gas plant for data centres
World

Amazon to finance huge US gas plant for data centres

Economy World


Amazon has confirmed it is financing a massive, private gas power plant in Texas that could become the single largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States.

It is the latest example of tech giants going off the grid to get their AI operations online faster.

The news was first reported by market intelligence company Cleanview, which reviewed satellite imagery to connect three data centre construction permits filed this week by Amazon to the gas plant, which is being developed by Pacifico Energy and is known as GW Ranch.

Previously filed permits for the plant show it would have 35 turbines and generate 7.65 gigawatts, larger than any gas plant currently operating in the United States.

A bigger facility, at 9.2 gigawatts, is planned in Ohio under a public-private partnership involving SoftBank, a Tokyo-based multinational investment holding company.

A technician works at an Amazon AI data centre in Indiana in the United States in October. Photo: Handout via Getty Images
A technician works at an Amazon AI data centre in Indiana in the United States in October. Photo: Handout via Getty Images

That plant would connect to the grid as well as power a data centre.