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Microsoft and Chevron announced plans on Monday to develop a 2.67-gigawatt natural gas power plant in West Texas to serve the tech company\u2019s AI and cloud data centers. <\/p>\n
Under the 20-year power purchase agreement, the plant will provide dedicated electricity to a Microsoft-operated data center. Two large GE Vernova turbines will generate most of the power, with a Caterpillar subsidiary Solar Turbines providing the rest. (The Solar Turbines name might sound familiar \u2014 xAI uses them in its unpermitted power plant<\/a> near Memphis.) Microsoft will buy power from the power plant for 20 years.<\/p>\n The project will be \u201camong the largest co-located natural gas power and data center developments in the U.S.,\u201d Chevron said in a press release<\/a>.<\/p>\n Though Microsoft has been telegraphing the move<\/a> for months now, it\u2019s still a significant shift for a company that has been vocal about its sustainability efforts. Microsoft has pledged to eliminate its carbon emissions by 2030, a goal that will be harder to reach with this new power plant.\u00a0<\/p>\n Project Kilby, as the power plant is known, will potentially release more than 13 million tons of carbon dioxide, 3,200 tons of criteria air pollutants<\/a>, and 278,000 pounds of hazardous air pollutants<\/a>, according<\/a> to the Environmental Integrity Project.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n