CLOUD & COLOCATION
A long-term commitment to West Texas While capacity and power dominate the headlines, Microsoft is also positioning the project as a long-term investment in the local community. The company says its Community First approach will guide the development, with a focus on local engagement and workforce development.
“ This expansion is grounded in a simple principle: we build where our customers need us, and we build for the long term,” Noelle said.
The company says its Texas operations have generated billions of dollars in economic activity and supported thousands of jobs. Programmes such as Microsoft’ s Datacenter Academy have also partnered with local colleges to help prepare students for careers in the sector. In Pecos, Microsoft plans to replicate many of those initiatives, including local hiring programmes and support for small businesses. The wider community investment strategy will also include education programmes and partnerships with local organisations.
Sustainability and resource management The project has been designed around a series of sustainability measures. Microsoft says it will continue building on the 4.7GW of renewable electricity it has already contracted in Texas while improving energy efficiency across its infrastructure portfolio.
The company expects the Pecos power facility to evolve over time, with both the plant and the campus potentially becoming connected to the broader regional grid in the future.
“ AI is reshaping the global economy, and abundant, affordable, reliable energy is essential to fuelling that transformation”
Jeff Gustavson President of New Energies Chevron
Water stewardship Microsoft plans to deploy closedloop cooling systems that significantly reduce the facility’ s water requirements. According to the company, the systems will require an initial charge of water when operations begin but no additional water consumption during steady-state operation.
The company also intends to use nonpotable water where possible to reduce pressure on local freshwater resources. This builds on existing water stewardship initiatives in Texas, including Microsoft’ s support for the protection of more than 1,500 acres in the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone near San Antonio.
Taken together, these sustainable features with a PPA and behind-themeter generation model make Pecos one of Microsoft’ s most ambitious infrastructure projects to date.
datacentremagazine. com 107