Google, Others Buying Up Land In Nebraska For AI Sites & Power Plants, But It's OK Because "Carbon Capture"

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Since December, Tenaska has entered into agreements with landowners for over 2,600 acres across southeast Nebraska under two different LLC names, according to county deed records. The agreements allow Tenaska the exclusive option to buy the land. Tenaska did not respond to requests for comment about the land deals. According to documents obtained by the Flatwater Free Press and Grist, Tenaska appears poised to build a utility-scale natural gas plant to power one of the largest data centers in the country. The documents suggest that Google would operate the data center and that the project may also be one of the largest test cases for carbon capture and storage, a controversial way to deal with runaway emissions that has not yet proven effective as a solution for climate change.

Nebraska, like many other states, is approaching a tipping point as it relates to energy demand, who can afford to supply it, how practical its emissions goals are, and the desire for economic activity to steadily grow. A recent report by the energy research and development nonprofit Electric Power Research Institute found that Nebraska is one of seven states that is on track to have data centers use over 20 percent of their total electricity consumption by 2030.

At the same time, a bill intended to allow for the creation of privately owned and operated power plants that serve large industrial facilities and are hooked up to the grid is being considered by the state legislature. Tenaska has publicly supported the bill, which was proposed by Governor Jim Pillen. The proposal could hinge on this bill’s passage. According to the documents, which were shared at a private meeting of a Nebraska public power district in January, the proposed data center would use between 1,000 and 3,000 megawatts of power from a combined-cycle natural gas plant. If the facility were to operate at the higher end of that range, it would generate more power than the largest power plant in the state.

As outlined in the documents, the proposed project names three companies: Google, Tenaska, and natural gas and carbon dioxide pipeline company Tallgrass Energy. Tenaska, an Omaha-based company, would be responsible for powering the new data center, while Tallgrass would potentially supply the natural gas and transport the captured carbon. The documents state that the proposed project could be online as soon as 2029, though it’s unclear how close this proposal is to becoming a reality. Neither Google nor Tenaska responded to multiple inquiries and requests for comment. Tallgrass, in a statement to Flatwater, denied being involved in the project.

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https://grist.org/accountability/google-data-center-carbon-capture-nebraska/