Google is investing $1 billion in a massive 100-hour battery to power its new Minnesota data center with renewable energy.
West Virginia: Google is building a new data center in Minnesota that will be powered by renewable energy. The electric power will come from wind turbines and solar panels. This power needs to be stored for when the wind isn’t blowing or the sun isn’t shining. That’s where the special battery comes in.
The battery, made by a company called Form Energy, can store electricity for 100 hours at a time. It costs about $1 billion. The battery is very big and can keep 300 megawatts of electricity flowing continuously. This is enough to power many thousands of homes.
The battery works in a special way using iron and air, almost like it’s breathing. It pulls oxygen from the air which helps create electricity from rust. This technology took years to develop and cost $1.4 billion to fund so far. Now Google will be the first big customer to use it in their data center.
The new battery will work together with 1.4 gigawatts of wind power and 200 megawatts of solar power. It will make sure the data center has steady power no matter what’s happening with the weather. Form Energy is even planning to raise more money and go public next year.