The University of Delaware
says "it has terminated its lease agreement with The Data Centers, LLC,
putting a halt to TDC’s plans to develop a data center" and natural gas
power plant on the Science, Technology & Advanced Research (STAR) Campus
adjoining the partly state-backed Newark, Del. school, after a committee of UD
officials and profs "unanimously" voted against the project.
Statement here, report link below.
According to UD,
administrators and professors in the Working Group assigned to review the
proposal "concluded that the proposed facility, which included a
279-megawatt cogeneration power plant, is not consistent with a first class
science and technology campus and high quality development to which UD is
committed. The findings are detailed in the
Group’s report," posted on the UD website.
Data Centers boss Eugene Kern
didn't immediately respond to phone and email messages to his Paoli office. The
project had been supported early on by Gov. Jack Markell, UD President Patrick
Harker, legislators from both parties, and construction contractors and unions
who hoped to build the $1 billion-plus plant, but opposed by Newark neighbors
and a unanimous Spring vote of the UD faculty senate, who questioned the large
natural gas-burning electric power plant the project's backers included in
their proposal. Markell didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
In a statement, Harker said
he still backs commercial development at the former Chrysler plant site, but
"it is extremely important" that such projects are "appropriate
both for the short and the long term, and that future generations of students
will have a top-quality education. We have carefully examined The Data Centers’
plans, and have determined that they are not a good fit for the STAR Campus.”
The statement added:"
The size of the power plant and the potential effects of resulting greenhouse
gases and other pollutants on the environment" convinced the working group
to "unanimously recommended to University leadership that plans to support
such a facility should not be approved." Harker then concurred.
Faculty members who had
researched The Data Centers and led opposition to the power plant part of the
proposal were grateful. "At the end of the day, there was a genuine
alignment of interests -- those of the Newark community, the University of
Delaware, and a clean and healthy environment," Prof. Thomas M. Powers,
director of UD's Center for Science, Ethics & Public Policy, told me.
"I am very
pleased," said UD engineering Prof. and ex-Dean Michael J. Chajes.
"Now that this project is settled, we can all work together to attract
businesses to the STAR Campus that will both provide high quality jobs and be
consistent with UD's commitment to clean energy and the environment."
Report summary, from the UD
statement:
• A data center would be
advantageous to the STAR Campus, with the potential to provide research and internship
opportunities, enhance the property infrastructure so as to attract other
tenants; provide construction and permanent jobs and provide tax revenue for
local schools and community.
• Contemporary high quality
data centers use the existing grid or deploy a combination of the existing grid
and renewable energy generation to meet their power needs. This approach
appears to be advantageous on many grounds: reliability, economic and
environmental.
• Relative to other
fossil-fuel energy sources, the combined heat and power (CHP) facility TDC
proposed is an efficient and viable transitional energy generation technology.
However, its efficiency is predicated on being appropriately sized such that
the recovered heat can be used or sold throughout the year as useful energy.
Specifically with TDC’s plan, it was not clear that this would be the case,
particularly in the non-summer months.
• The 279-megawatt
cogeneration facility that TDC proposed is significantly (at least two times)
larger than any other on-site power generation facility known at data centers
in the United States.
• Significant generation of
greenhouse gases with insufficient plans to capture and sequester carbon
dioxide and the emission of other pollutants would have demonstrative and
negative effects on UD’s commitments to sustainability and reducing its carbon
footprint.
• Given the University’s
commitment to reduced carbon emissions, and its strong reputation in renewable
and carbon-free energy research, the emplacement of a fossil-fuel based
facility of this size does not appear consistent with UD’s vision of a first
class science and technology campus or its Path to Prominence.
UD concluded: "The
University of Delaware remains committed to developing the STAR Campus to
support cutting-edge research, provide educational and professional
opportunities for students, foster innovation and create jobs to enrich the
community."
Full disclosure: I have two
kids who are students at UD. They were neutral about the Data Center project,
other than hoping it would bring in lots of jobs for students and grads
Source: Philly.com
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