Oil company Chevron recently announced and is advancing plans to develop data centers for greater power generation. While many AI companies are investing in data centers, many oil companies are doing the same. In order to advance the future of energy and oil, Chevron and other oil companies are upping their engineering and need to data centers and energy to supply such endeavors.
Chevron to Develop US Data Centers
Data centers are basically large server warehouses to produce huge amounts of electricity. While there are some in the US, the total number of data centers is expected to triple over the next three years. Over the past year, tech companies are buying power directly from power plants in order to fuel their AI campaigns. The power sector is seeing immense growth and huge demand due to the push for AI and engineering. In fact, the demand for power currently is at a record high for the past twenty years. But this brings up a large question, if Chevron is an oil company, can’t they produce energy from oil?
Last year both Chevron and Exxon Mobile announced plans for power generation. These data centers will be powered by the oil which Chevron and competitors drill for. Daniel Droog, vice president of power solutions at Chevron said that “the customer interest is high.” Droog also said “It’s really trying to intersect where they have that level of need because they’re building new or expanding facilities, at a rate that’s ahead of the power supply.”
New Data Center Capabilities
New data centers are generally capable of producing about 20 gigawatts. These data centers, however, are massive. They are about 50 times larger than traditional data centers and a single location can be as large as a mid-sized city. Chevron likely won’t be making their data centers are large or as capable. They are targeting data center sites capable of producing about 1 gigawatt and hope to have it up and running in 2027 or 2028. Droog went on to said “We’re really focused on scale, speed and reliability.” Droog did now answer questions about customer concerns nor exactly where the data centers will be built. He did indicate that the data centers will likely be in the south or the Midwest.
Chevron will be unique in using natural gas to power their data center. Big tech companies are reluctant to the idea due to previous pledges around environmental protection concerns. While Chevron likely won’t produce as much power as competitors, they certainly want to earn a seat at the data center table.
Featured Image Credit: David Brown; Pexels: Thank You!
