Close
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Cloud
    • Cloud

    Google to Build New Data Center on Former Alabama Power Plant Site

    By
    Jaikumar Vijayan
    -
    June 26, 2015
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin
      Google Data Center

      Google will build its 14th major data center on the site of the Widows Creek coal power plant in Jackson County, Alabama.

      The plant is scheduled to be shut down and Google intends redevelop the site to erect its new $600 million data center. The company will reuse existing electric and other infrastructure where it makes sense.

      “Data centers need a lot of infrastructure to run 24/7,” Patrick Gammons, Google’s senior manager of data center energy and location strategy said in a company blog. “There’s a lot of potential in redeveloping large industrial sites like former coal power plants.”

      By repurposing existing infrastructure where it can, Google hopes to ensure that decades worth of electrical infrastructure investment won’t go to waste just because the site itself will be closed, Gammons said.

      Google will attempt to use the Widows Creek facility’s multiple transmission lines to bring in renewable energy to its new data center. The company will work with the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to scout for new renewable energy projects and to find ways to bring the power to the data center. “Ultimately, this contributes to our goal of being powered by 100 percent renewable energy,” Gammons said.

      Google will equip the Alabama data center with energy-efficient servers, home-built data center cooling technologies and neural networks designed to get the most effort out of every watt of energy consumed by the data center. “Compared to five years ago, we now get 3.5 times the computing power out of the same amount of energy,” Gammons said.

      Construction on the data center is expected to begin in 2016. When complete the new facility is expected to bring about 80 to 100 ‘high paying’ jobs to the area, Alabama Governor Robert Bentley said.

      Google has been spending a lot of money in recent years trying to bring renewable energy to all of its data centers globally. Earlier this year the company entered into a long-term agreement with NextEra Energy Resources to bring wind energy to its Mountain View, Calif. headquarters. The agreement calls on NextEra to install 24 new wind turbines that together will generate an estimated 43 megawatts of energy for Google’s data center in the region, starting next year.

      The company is also building what it has described as a $700 million hyper energy-efficient data center in Eemshaven in the Netherlands. The data center is scheduled to open in 2016 and will be powered by fully renewable energy sources from the first day.

      Google has said the data center will use cool air and gray water to cool its data center servers and use wind energy to power its operations. The company has committed to buying the next 10 years of output from a new wind farm that is currently being built near its Eemshaven facility. The company has plans to build three similar facilities in Ireland, Dublin and Belgium.

      According to Gammons, Google has become the largest corporate purchaser of renewable energy in the world, accounting for over 1.5 percent of the entire wind power installed capacity in the United States.

      Editor’s Note: This story was updated to correct the name of the power generation plant site where where Google will build its new data center.

      Jaikumar Vijayan
      Vijayan is an award-winning independent journalist and tech content creation specialist covering data security and privacy, business intelligence, big data and data analytics.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Cybersecurity

      Visa’s Michael Jabbara on Cybersecurity and Digital...

      James Maguire - May 17, 2022 0
      I spoke with Michael Jabbara, VP and Global Head of Fraud Services at Visa, about the cybersecurity technology used to ensure the safe transfer...
      Read more
      Cloud

      Yotascale CEO Asim Razzaq on Controlling Multicloud...

      James Maguire - May 5, 2022 0
      Asim Razzaq, CEO of Yotascale, provides guidance on understanding—and containing—the complex cost structure of multicloud computing. Among the topics we covered:  As you survey the...
      Read more
      IT Management

      Intuit’s Nhung Ho on AI for the...

      James Maguire - May 13, 2022 0
      I spoke with Nhung Ho, Vice President of AI at Intuit, about adoption of AI in the small and medium-sized business market, and how...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      GoodData CEO Roman Stanek on Business Intelligence...

      James Maguire - May 4, 2022 0
      I spoke with Roman Stanek, CEO of GoodData, about business intelligence, data as a service, and the frustration that many executives have with data...
      Read more
      Applications

      Cisco’s Thimaya Subaiya on Customer Experience in...

      James Maguire - May 10, 2022 0
      I spoke with Thimaya Subaiya, SVP and GM of Global Customer Experience at Cisco, about the factors that create good customer experience – and...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2021 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×