Google explores 1.2GW Virginia data center campus

Google is exploring a 1.2GW data center campus on roughly 1,000 acres at West Creek Business Park in Goochland County, Virginia, according to an unsealed nondisclosure agreement reported by WRIC.

Google is still evaluating the property and running due diligence, and no final plans have been made. The land sits off Route 6 and Hockett Road, near West End, west of Richmond.

Goochland County has already approved a Technology Overlay District and a Technology Zone, clearing the land-use path; delivering 1.2GW still depends on utility and interconnection approvals.

Clay Allsop, a Google regional public affairs manager, said: "Google has more than 20 years of experience responsibly building data centers, and we are optimistic about the opportunity in Goochland County." He said the company is committed to working transparently with residents and local government leaders as diligence continues.

Goochland resident Cynthia Haas cited noise, pollution and lights at night, saying the development would "dramatically change the way this county looks," according to WRIC.

Tract is planning an 872-acre campus at Tuckahoe Technology Park in the same county, according to Data Center Dynamics. The site is at 44 Cobblestone Circle and 70 Fleetwood Lane, bounded by Hockett Road to the west, Route 288 to the east and Patterson Avenue to the south. Site plans suggest 12 buildings could be developed there, with the multi-phase campus potentially reaching 900MW at full build-out and more than $3 billion of possible investment.

Together, the two proposals would add about 2.1GW of potential load in one county. Tract's figures imply more than $3.3 million per megawatt; at that ratio, 1.2GW would be roughly $4 billion, though Google has not published a cost.

As Private Wealth Daily previously reported, Google moved to fund Arkansas grid capacity for a 600 MW data center in October, half the load now under consideration at West Creek.