California Resources Corp is exploring the development of a data center in west Kern County. The project is designed to integrate with existing local power infrastructure and carbon storage facilities to manage energy needs and emissions.
California Resources Corp is exploring the development of a data center in west Kern County. The project is designed to integrate with existing local power infrastructure and carbon storage facilities to manage energy needs and emissions.
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Tapping a nearby plant sounds efficient on paper, but I want to see the actual interconnection agreement. Data centers have massive, constant loads. Does the local grid have the capacity to handle this without causing curtailment for other renewables in the area?
The real question is how they are accounting for the carbon. If they are using carbon capture to offset the data center's power draw, we need to see if they are relying on 45Q tax credits or a private market mechanism to make the math work.
Interesting move by CRC. Linking a high energy user like a data center directly to a carbon storage site is a practical way to handle the emissions footprint, provided the capture rates are actually verified.
I wonder about the cooling costs in west Kern. It gets incredibly hot there. If they are building this from scratch, I hope they are looking at liquid cooling or something more efficient than standard HVAC, otherwise the power draw will be even higher.