Oracle to Power Texas Data Center with Gas Generators Amid AI Surge

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I dive into Oracle's bold $1
billion-a-year move to power a massive AI-focused data center in
West Texas using gas generators.


Highlights


00:18 — Oracle is set to spend over a billion
dollars a year to power a new mega data center in West Texas,
using gas generators instead of waiting to be connected to the
local utilities. The gas-powered site is being developed by
Vantage Data Centers. It will cover 1,200 acres, house 10 data
centers, and have a total capacity of 1.4 gigawatts — making it
one of the largest in the world.


01:00 — So, why spend a billion dollars a year
on power generation? The issue is that obtaining approval for
power infrastructure projects of this size using local
electricity gridscan take years. The balance between progress and
environmental impact is not so straightforward. While
gas-generated electricity is cleaner than other fossil fuels, it
is still far from clean energy.


01:33 — I reported a few months back on
Microsoft's efforts to mitigate the environmental impact of data
centers by changing construction methods, while Oracle recently
floated the idea of using nuclear power — a much cleaner
alternative to gas. I hope that, in the drive for success in a
painfully competitive market, these core values and significant
concerns for sustainability are not lost.


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