ExxonMobil Planning Large Gas-Fired Plant to Serve Data Centers

ExxonMobil is preparing to join the power generation business, seeing an opportunity to support the electricity supply for energy-intensive data centers. The company on Dec. 11 said it is designing what was referred to as a “massive” natural gas-fired power plant that would be dedicated to producing power for data centers. Reports said the facility could have generating capacity of more than 1,500 MW. Darren Woods, Exxon’s chief executive, in a media call on Wednesday said, “There are very few opportunities in the short term to power those data centers and do it in a way that at the same time minimizes, if not completely eliminates, the emissions.” There currently are no U.S. natural gas-fired power plants with carbon capture technology, although NET Power on Monday said it would build gas-fired generation in California and utilize carbon capture. Electric utilities and power generators are scrambling to find ways to serve what’s expected to be an exponential increase in energy demand from artificial intelligence and the high-tech sector. Natural gas, in part due to its lower cost, has emerged as a leading option for an industry looking for 24/7 electricity. Nuclear power also is being considered, along with renewable energy and energy storage. Some utilities also have said they expect to keep coal-fired power units online longer than expected to help meet increasing demand for electricity. Exxon said its gas-fired plant would have technology to capture more than 90% of the facility’s emissions of carbon dioxide. The company said the project is still in the early stages of development. Exxon has built gas-fired plants previously, but only to serve the company’s own operations. Houston, Texas-based ExxonMobil did not disclose the cost or the location of the new power plant but said it had secured land for the facility, and is talking with groups that would potentially buy the power. The company said it could have the plant ready for operation within the next five years. Exxon also said it would not seek to have the plant connected to the power grid, which could speed its permitting and construction process. Dan Ammann, an Exxon executive involved in the company’s low-carbon business, and the former president of General Motors, told The New York Times: “We’re being driven by the market demand here. It’s low carbon, it’s available on an accelerated timeline and it avoids all the grid interconnection challenges.” Exxon is an oil and gas major. The company, which also Wednesday said it expects to increase its oil and gas production by about 18% from current levels by 2030, has said it plans to spend $30 billion to develop alternative energy resources and reduce emissions from its operations over the next few years. The company earlier this year said it is working with tech giant Intel to develop new liquid cooling technologies for data centers. The groups said they would partner to “design, test, research, and co-develop energy-efficient cooling fluid solutions,” which would be able to support systems built on chipmaker Intel’s x86 architecture. The companies said the technology could help data center operators cut emissions from their facilities, and support more energy-efficient operations. —Darrell Proctor is a senior editor for POWER.