Google invests US$1 billion into a new data centre project in Midlothian.
According to the report by local news agency NBC, the news was announced on 15th August, by Yolanda Piazza, VP of financial services for Google Cloud. Local leaders including Senator Ted Cruz and Congressman Jake Ellzey were also present at the event. The $1 billion dollar project aims to equip data centre campuses in Midlothian and Red Oak with the ability to meet the increasing demand for Google Cloud, AI innovations and other digital services.
Elaborating further on the decision to build new data centres in Midlothian during an interview with local media, Piazza said “We look at things like the talent in the area, land, your electrical infrastructure. And then a big piece of that is a community that wants to partner with us.”
Google did not elaborate further on how exactly the US$1 billion will be spent.
In a statement, Piazza said, “Expanding our cloud and data centre infrastructure in Midlothian and Red Oak reflects our confidence in the state’s ability to lead in the digital economy.” First mentioned in 2022, Google named North Texas a “Google Cloud Region” and the investment this year further solidifies the company’s strategic direction.
As with every new data centre, people are concerned about the amount of energy that is required to power these new projects. According to the report by Culture Map, Google has signed long-term power purchase agreements with four renewable energy suppliers – Elawan, Engie N.A., Grupo Cobra, and K-ELIO. With these new agreements, it is expected that a total of 375 MW of carbon-free energy will be provided. The energy will be used to support the data centre operations in Texas.
With this new investment, the total investment sum that Google invested in Texas increases to more than US$2.7 billion.
