A Columbus suburb wants to thwart Amazon’s plan to build a six-acre plot of 228 natural gas-fed “fuel cell” units. Each will use an electrochemical reaction to fuel the staggering power demands of the company’s already-built, 142-acre data center operation.
In Hilliard, a suburb to the capital city’s northwest, a subsidiary of utility company American Electric Power wants to build the fuel cells to deliver 73 megawatts of power for one of Amazon’s two Hilliard megacampuses. Amazon is also seeking a permit to operate its recently built fleet of 158 backup diesel generators, which has prompted a grassroots opposition campaign alongside the suburb’s legal resistance.
There are 194 data centers in Ohio, according to Data Center Map, with more joining the development queue by the day. Developers hope these kinds of “behind the meter” power systems can help the grid absorb the spike in new power demand without the public paying for the expensive upgrades to facilitate the trend. While most power plants provide energy for the entire, multi-state electrical grid, “behind the meter” plants feed one particular, privately owned data center…