Microsoft takes up residence next to OpenAI, Oracle at Crusoe's 900 MW Texas datacenter expansion

Bitcoin farmer turned bit barn builder Crusoe revealed plans to add 900 megawatts of capacity to its Abilene Texas datacenter campus on Friday to support Microsoft's AI ambitions. The new campus will be located alongside the 1.2 gigawatt facility Crusoe is building for Oracle and OpenAI as part of its $500 billion Stargate …

[retiredFool]

W texas

As the article says, gas, and my guess is turbines, not fuel cells. Turbines are cheaper.

[Like a badger]

Re: W texas

No need to speculate, there's plenty of articles to be found confirming this, including a planning application for a natural gas power plant on site. But the Abilene locating tells us all we need to know - this approach can consume many tons of gas, but if they generate on site they will avoid paying electricity grid charges, and avoid most of the gas transportation costs that would be incurred elsewhere in the US.

https://io-fund.com/renewable-energy/data-center/ai-data-center-expansion-gas-pipelines

[cyberdemon]

Re: W texas

They probably have a couple of fuel cells capable of producing a few kilowatts, that they use on guided tours for politicians, media and investors... "Look! Green tech! We can er, scale it up! If only you'd give us lots of cash! Now put these earplugs in and look the other way while we walk past the gas turbine plant."

[Sorry that handle is already taken.]

Kicking the can further down the road just to stay in the news

Get back to us when it exists, Crusoe/Oracle/OpenAI/Microsoft.

In the meantime you can answer a question: Where's the money coming from to pay for it?

[Pascal Monett]

That's not really the issue. Money is plentiful - for the 1%.

The real issue is water to cool the thing.

You can't create water, as these idiots are going to find out some day soon.

[Dimmer]

Money is plentiful - other people’s money.

[Sorry that handle is already taken.]

And one day they're going to start wondering what they're getting out of all of this. Then they start asking.

[FILE_ID.DIZ]

Other than the fact that I've realized that I can't stand Sam Altman's voice in this interview and of course this video has the usual AI hype men polishing a turd, it is nice to hear that the Mayor of Abilene whose salary is $1/year (perhaps being a mayor there is more about the trappings of power?) talk about jobs that Stargate will create include people cutting the grass...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhIJs4zbH0o&t=1830s

If you go on for the next minute or two, they do delve into that basically data centers, once complete, really don't need many meatsacks. There's even a reference to Silicon Valley and the lone IT worker inside a datacenter scene.

So - yea.

[Sorry that handle is already taken.]

Ed Zitron discusses the ongoing data centre builds, and the claims being made about them.

Basically most of the mainstream reporting on the subject is garbage and the industry relies on the misinformation it spreads.

[Mark 124]

Came to say the same thing!

Datacentres take a LONG time to build and there's no way 1 GW of capacity gets built and turned on within a year.

[Dimmer]

Texas is a bit different than than other states. Thwy are self sufficient, so they do not fall under the federal requirements except EPA.

They can build and bring online a power plant within the year, other than no taxes, that is why they build there.

Current rate is .05 a kw. Here is some info from the ERCOT website for today.

Solar17,765 MW(38.1%)37,040 MW

Wind18,858 MW(40.5%)40,736 MW

Hydro5 MW(0.0%)579 MW

Power Storage-5,448 MW(-11.7%)16,993 MW

Other0 MW(0.0%)667 MW

Natural Gas7,163 MW(15.4%)68,199 MW

Coal and Lignite4,510 MW(9.7%)13,705 MW

Nuclear3,746 MW(8.0%)5,268 MW

As you can see it is not just about fossil fuels. In west Texas there are massive wind and solar farms.

[Sorry that handle is already taken.]

I believe Mark 124 is referring to the time required to bring a data centre containing 1 GW of IT load online, not a power station to supply it. Although those are in short supply too.

[FILE_ID.DIZ]

I like this aggregator - https://www.gridstatus.io/live/ercot

Without a login (even a free one) they do visualize a lot of data for free.

[retiredFool]

With you on Altmans voice. Yuck.

I've often thought council/mayors (along with all federal level elected officials) should be required to undergo before/after audits on theirs and relatives finances. Any hint of money that came from nowhere would then trigger forensic accounting paid by them. And actual issues get clawed back 10:1, and if that means the official or family member goes bankrupt, oh well, start taking from relatives to repay the sum. I know several of the mayors in my town (and its blue) seem to have way more money than they started with, like way way way more.