Microsoft signss power supply agreement with Chevron for Texas data center

Chevron announced on Monday that it had signed an agreement with Microsoft to build a facility in West Texas to provide natural gas fired electricity to the technology giant's data center.

Microsoft and other technology companies are scrambling to secure the electricity they need for their data centers, which are rapidly expanding, in order to support AI services like ChatGPT or Copilot.

Chevron announced that the co-located facility known as?project Kilby? would provide dedicated power to Microsoft's campus at Pecos, Texas for 20 years.

Microsoft's data centers are expected to increase by 2 gigawatts.

Microsoft stated in a separate press release that the multi-billion dollar data center investment will support over 6,000 construction jobs and hundreds of permanent operational roles.

Project Kilby is expected will provide the first power by 2028, and will increase to 2,67 gigawatts with time.

Last year, the U.S. energy giant announced that it would be partnering with Engine No. The project is a partnership between Engine No. 1 and GE Vernova, a company that provides electric services.

Solar Turbines of Caterpillar will provide additional capacity.

Chevron stated that Kilby would be "one of the largest colocated natural-gas power projects in the United States". It added that the project would help support the next phase of the "American AI Growth" by leveraging America's?natural gas advantage.

Chevron is expected to announce the final investment decision by the end this year. (Reporting from Bengaluru by Vallari Srivastava; Editing by Leroy Leo).

(source: Reuters)