Oracle clarifies water use for Project Jupiter data center in Doña Ana County, New Mexico

In an opinion piece published in El Paso Matters, Julia Robin, head of infrastructure planning and sourcing for Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, addressed concerns regarding water usage for "Project Jupiter," a large artificial intelligence data center campus in southern New Mexico's Doña Ana County. Robin emphasized Oracle's commitment to water preservation and provided updated information on the project's plans.

Oracle stated that the data center will not use public drinking water for cooling or fuel cell operations. Instead, it will treat non-potable well water from an existing New Mexico rights holder. The project utilizes a closed-loop cooling system that recycles water, requiring an initial fill of approximately 2.5 million gallons of non-potable water for each of the four data center buildings over two to three years, with minimal annual maintenance top-offs.

Furthermore, Project Jupiter's updated power plan incorporates Bloom Energy fuel cell technology, which requires an initial one-time fill of about 960,000 gallons of water and an estimated 167,000 gallons annually for maintenance during normal operations. Oracle calculates that the total water usage over 15 years, including initial fills and ongoing maintenance for both the data center and fuel cell system, will average approximately the annual use of nine U.S. households, significantly less than a typical desert golf course. The company asserts that this responsible water use, coupled with the economic benefits and the potential for AI to optimize global water consumption, will protect New Mexico's drinking water.