To Solve a Major Problem With Data Centers, Put Them in Oil Fields
A new 600,000-square-foot data center project, the Golden Valley Technology Hub, is proposed in California's Elk Hills oil field in Kern County by California Resources Corporation and Beacon. It aims to mitigate common data center controversies by using an existing industrial site with on-site natural gas power and a water-efficient cooling system. The project faces an environmental review and operates within a context where the developer and county have faced opposition and a lawsuit over related carbon capture initiatives.
California Resources Corporation (CRC) and data center developer Beacon have unveiled plans for the Golden Valley Technology Hub, a 600,000-square-foot data center campus in the Elk Hills oil field in California's Kern County. The project aims to address widespread concerns about data center energy and water consumption by repurposing an existing industrial site with an underutilized 550-megawatt natural gas power plant and employing a water-efficient closed-loop cooling system. CRC Chief Sustainability Officer Chris Gould highlighted the project's design to support digital infrastructure while minimizing local impacts and creating jobs and tax revenue in Kern County.
The proposed data center, located more than a mile from the nearest homes, is part of a growing trend to site such facilities in or near oil and gas fields to leverage existing infrastructure and remote locations. The project will undergo a strict environmental review process, expected to take about a year. While CRC has held community meetings and garnered local support, the company and Kern County are also facing a lawsuit filed by environmental groups like Earthjustice and the Center for Biological Diversity over the county's approval of a separate carbon capture project by CRC, raising broader environmental concerns about the developer's activities in the region.