Google announced on Thursday it will build its first Wyoming data centre through a $17 billion long-term investment in Laramie County near Cheyenne. According to The Next Web, the facility will draw most of its power from natural gas paired with carbon capture technology designed to keep most emissions underground.
Key takeaways
- Google made a $17 billion investment for its first data centre in Laramie County.
- Power will mostly come from natural gas paired with carbon capture technology.
- American Electric Power and Bloom Energy are building a 702 MW fuel cell plant for the project.
- The facility will use air cooling to save water in Cheyenne.
How will the Wyoming data centre be powered?
American Electric Power and Bloom Energy will provide a 702 MW fuel cell plant that turns natural gas into electricity without burning it. POWER Magazine reported that Google signed a 20-year deal to buy this power, and the plant should be fully running by the end of 2028. American Electric Power stated in October it would spend about $4 billion on this facility near Cheyenne.
Tallgrass Energy will capture carbon from the fuel cells and store it underground at its Eastern Wyoming Sequestration Hub. Google calls this the largest project of its kind planned so far and stated it will remove "a large majority" of emissions, though it did not provide a specific figure.
What other energy and environmental steps are involved?
Google will purchase additional power from gas plants operated by Tallgrass and Black Hills Energy, while also studying carbon capture for Tallgrass turbines. This brings Google's contracted power from plants using carbon capture to nearly 1 GW, following an initial deal for an Illinois gas plant in October 2025. The company stated it will pay for all electricity used and required grid upgrades.
To protect local water supplies, the facility will use air cooling. In July, Cheyenne halted some data centre water discharges after a Meta contractor released a rare bacterium into the wastewater reuse system.
Why it matters
The project arrives as US lawmakers push big tech companies to cover the costs of their energy and grid demands. Google expects the project to deliver hundreds of millions of dollars in property taxes to the county and schools. At the same time, Google and its partners are creating a community council after more than 200 residents expressed concerns about local data centre growth. This announcement followed a vote where US residents rejected data centres in 40 of 41 local ballot measures.
Frequently asked questions
Google is making a long-term investment of $17 billion to build its first data centre in Laramie County, Wyoming.
Most of the power will come from natural gas, anchored by a 702 MW fuel cell plant built by American Electric Power and Bloom Energy near Cheyenne.
Carbon from the fuel cells will be captured and stored underground at Tallgrass Energy’s nearby Eastern Wyoming Sequestration Hub to remove most of the emissions.
The 702 MW fuel cell plant is scheduled to be fully running by the end of 2028 under a 20-year power purchase deal.
The data centre will rely on air cooling to save water, following local concerns regarding water use and a prior wastewater incident involving another company.
Based on reporting by The Next Web. Read the original article
