Nevada Data Center Intel

Recent Nevada data center news

• Jan 3, 2026

  5 Nevada environment stories to watch in the new year

  Alan Halaly (Las Vegas Review-Journal) outlines five Nevada environmental issues to watch in 2026.

  • Main announcement: The article highlights five priority issues: Colorado River shortage negotiations among the seven basin states with an Interior Secretary Feb. 14 deadline from Doug Burgum; a permanent state water-rights buyback program signed by Gov. Joe Lombardo that has no state funding allocated (funding suggested from future state action or private donors); rising temperatures and declines in Lake Mead and groundwater aquifers; exploding data center growth raising energy and water supply concerns (noting Southern Nevada’s ban on evaporative cooling and growth at the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center); federal actions stalling utility-scale solar projects (federal cancellation of environmental review for a large Esmeralda County solar farm); and an ongoing fight to block mining in the Amargosa River watershed including concerns about a clinoptilolite mine expansion and a previously lobbied 20-year mining pause.
  • Background and details: At the Colorado River Water Users Conference the seven basin states showed little consensus while facing an unprecedented megadrought; Gov. Lombardo signed the water-rights bill but the program was created without budgeted funds; the Amargosa coalition (environmentalists, Nye County officials and the Timbisha Shoshone Tribe) raised groundwater-impact concerns and a lithium mine proposal was later removed from the company’s public materials; federal Interior Department policy changes have caused delays or cancellations of large solar project reviews.
• Jan 2, 2026

  Ormat Technologies Signs 20-Year PPA with Switch for ~13 MW of Carbon-Free Geothermal Capacity to Power Data Centers

  Ormat Technologies has signed a 20-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Switch to supply renewable power from the Salt Wells geothermal power plant.

  • Main announcement: Ormat will supply approximately 13MW of geothermal energy to Switch under a 20-year PPA; energy deliveries are scheduled to commence in Q1 2030 following completion of a major Salt Wells upgrade expected by Q2 2026. The agreement also includes Ormat’s option to add an approximately 7MW Solar PV facility to serve the plant’s auxiliary needs and expand combined output to Switch.
  • Background and additional details: Ormat noted potential future recontracting of over 100 MW of its existing fleet under this framework and highlighted this as its first direct PPA with a data center operator. Ormat’s broader portfolio totals 1,618MW (including 1,268MW geothermal and solar globally and 350MW energy storage in the U.S.), with operations or projects in Kenya, Guatemala, Indonesia, Honduras, and Guadeloupe.
• Dec 31, 2025

  Power Generation in the Age of AI: Year-End 2025 Outlook

  PEI Global Partners (Adil Sener) warns that AI-driven data-center demand has transformed the U.S. power sector into a strategic national priority, shifting focus from cheapest MWh to deliverable, firm and timely power.

  • Main announcement/action: PEI highlights a new “speed to power” imperative driven by clustered AI/data center loads; key facts include data centers may reach up to 12% of U.S. electricity consumption by 2028 (from ~4.4% in 2023), forecasted 5.7% annual U.S. energy demand growth over the next five years, and explicit contracting examples such as Vistra’s 20-year PPA for up to 1,200 MW at Comanche Peak with implied pricing of ~$90–$100/MWh and an implied reliability/capacity value of ~ $24/kW-month (~$790/MW-day).
  • Background and implementation details: PEI argues the bottleneck is execution (interconnection, equipment, lead times) not capital: ~2 TW of solar+BESS in interconnection queues while build-throughput is ~2% annually; documented transformer lead times of ~143 weeks; 2024 U.S. builds were ~40 GW utility-scale solar and ~10 GW utility-scale BESS with EIA 2025 expectations ~33 GW solar and ~18 GW storage; federal and private support examples include DOE up to $800 million for SMR projects (TVA/Holtec) and private agreements (e.g., Amazon/X-energy). PEI is actively advising on M&A and financing processes that prioritize deliverability, speed-to-power and equipment-secured projects.
• Dec 27, 2025

  How AI can help cut global emissions even as its power demands continue to impact the environment

  The Associated Press reports that AI applications can reduce greenhouse-gas emissions even as AI computing and data centre energy use rises.

  • Main announcement/action: The article documents multiple real-world AI applications that reduce emissions or improve energy efficiency, including building automation, EV charging scheduling, oil-and-gas methane flaring reduction, geothermal site discovery, and traffic-light optimization; key stats include data centres ≈1.5% of global electricity use (last year) and an IEA projection that that consumption could more than double by 2030. Names and concrete results cited: building automation can cut energy use 10–30%; Google’s Project Green Light can reduce stop‑and‑go traffic up to 30% and cut emissions ~10%; Geminus AI’s simulations run in seconds versus traditional ~36 hours; Zanskar purchased an underperforming geothermal plant in New Mexico last year and announced a second geothermal discovery in Nevada in September.
  • Background and implementation details: The story cites experts and companies — Alexis Abramson (Columbia University Climate School), Bob French (75F), Zoltan Nagy (Eindhoven University of Technology), Greg Fallon (Geminus AI), Carl Hoiland and Joel Edwards (Zanskar), and Juliet Rothenberg (Google) — and describes a California pilot program that shifted EV charging to times with greater renewable supply and customer savings; IEA projections and UNEP findings on methane’s climate impact are used as factual context.
• Dec 23, 2025

  ‘We finally have a tool to at least shave some tenths of a degree off’: author Bill McKibben on the promise of renewable energy

  Bill McKibben argues renewable energy now provides a practical tool to reduce warming by tenths of a degree and highlights China’s leadership in mass deployment of solar and wind.

  • Main announcement/action: McKibben presents the central claim that cheap solar, wind and batteries are now a realistic tool to “shave some tenths of a degree off“ global warming; he cites 95% of new generating capacity last year coming from clean sources and that China was building three gigawatts of solar panels a day (scale cited in May). Include concrete examples: Pakistan cancelled delivery of 27 cargoloads of LNG last month after widespread rooftop solar uptake; the author organised Sun Day in September with 500 events across the US.
  • Background and details: He attributes slowed transition partly to the fossil fuel industry’s influence, noting “a billion dollars” and “about half a billion” in donations/advertising/lobbying referenced for US politics; he also notes the Vatican plans to become the first fully solar-powered nation when it flips the switch on a new solar farm next year (2026). All items are factual claims made in the interview; no speculative outcomes are included.
• Dec 23, 2025

  Google agrees to acquire infrastructure builder Intersect to accelerate capacity development

  Alphabet announced it will acquire Intersect for $4.75 billion to accelerate data center and energy project capacity and development, with the deal expected to close in the first half of 2026.

  • Deal and scope: Alphabet/Google to acquire Intersect for $4.75 billion, expected close H1 2026; Google will absorb Intersect’s team and “multiple gigawatts” of energy and data projects already in development (including a co-located data center and power site under construction in Texas), while some existing Intersect Texas assets and California projects will remain independent and are not included in the transaction. The companies will jointly continue work on the included projects and build out new ones.
  • Background and related initiatives: Google is pursuing diverse energy pathways — 115MW of geothermal with NV Energy to Nevada’s grid, work with Energy Dome on CO2 battery long-duration storage, and support for carbon capture at Broadwing Energy (Broadwing to capture ~90% of its CO2 emissions and Google committed to buying most of that power). Analysts (Info-Tech Research Group, Greyhound Research) frame the move as a response to upstream constraints (interconnection queues, substation upgrades, permitting) and advise tying energy strategy to capacity planning and extending energy contracting timelines.
• Dec 22, 2025

  Tesla’s Battery Tech Powers Renewable Energy and Grid Decarbonization

  Tesla emphasizes expanded deployment of its battery systems (Powerwall for homes, Megapack for grid-scale) to stabilize electricity grids and advance decarbonization.

  • Main announcement/action: Tesla positions its Powerwall and Megapack systems as operational solutions to integrate renewables and stabilize grids, citing deployments at Hornsdale Power Reserve and Moss Landing facility, reporting 1.6 terawatts from virtual power plants and 6.5 million outages served by Powerwall systems in 2025; the company targets net-zero operations by 2040.
  • Background and details: The article references lifecycle and sustainability initiatives including closed-loop recycling (Nevada Gigafactory pilot, full-scale target by 2026), supplier audits and a move toward cobalt-free chemistries, policy drivers such as the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act, and mentions trends (cost declines, potential market growth) and applications including support for AI data centers.
• Dec 20, 2025

  Mergers and Acquisitions — Reviewing 2025 and Looking Ahead to 2026

  Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz partners review 2025 global M&A trends and outline expectations for dealmaking, regulation, financing and activism heading into 2026.

  • M&A volumes surged in 2025 to $2.3 trillion US deal value (up 49% vs. 2024) and 63 global $10B+ megadeals, driven by large strategic combinations, record private equity activity (~$2T PE volume), bank consolidation, AI- and infrastructure-related transactions, and open debt markets supporting record leveraged buyouts and complex financings.
  • The memo details sector hotspots (tech/AI, energy & infrastructure, banks, healthcare, media, oil & gas, crypto), regulatory shifts under the Trump administration (more traditional antitrust, SEC easing disclosures, CFIUS conditions), U.S. government equity investments (e.g., $8.9B for 9.9% of Intel, rare earths, chips), M&A-focused shareholder activism, spin-offs, CVRs, hostile bids, sovereign wealth fund participation, new HSR Act filing rules, and Delaware corporate law changes impacting future deals.
• Dec 17, 2025

  The next big shifts in AI workloads and hyperscaler strategies

  McKinsey & Company outlines how AI-driven workloads are forcing US hyperscalers to redesign data center strategies, power sourcing, and campus architectures while rapidly scaling capacity.

  • AI demand is expected to expand US data center power capacity from ~30+ GW (2025) to 90+ GW (2030, ~22% CAGR), with inference workloads growing at 35% CAGR to >90 GW and training at 22% CAGR to >60 GW, driving shifts toward high-density, liquid-cooled, AI-ready campuses, modular builds, and tier 2 markets where power, land, and permitting are more accessible and faster.
  • Hyperscalers are restructuring capital and infrastructure models, including JVs, special-purpose vehicles, lease‑to‑own deals, behind‑the‑meter power (e.g., New APR Energy’s 100 MW+ mobile gas turbines), and hydrogen-powered microgrid campuses, while retrofitting existing sites at $4–7M/MW for co‑locators and $20–30M/MW for hyperscalers to support GPU‑intensive AI and consolidating into multifacility campuses projected to represent ~70% of deployments by 2030.
• Dec 16, 2025

  US ROUNDUP: Shell immersion cooling partnership, PNNL begins utility-scale battery tests, ON.Energy in 5GW transformer deal

  EticaAG has partnered with Shell to integrate Shell’s MIVOLT ester-based dielectric liquids into EticaAG’s immersion-cooled BESS; PNNL has begun 100kW utility-scale battery testing at the Grid Storage Launchpad (GSL); ON.Energy signed a 5GW transformer supply agreement with Prolec GE to support AI UPS deployments starting in 2026.

  • Main announcements:EticaAG + Shell will combine EticaAG’s non-flammable immersion cooling with Shell’s MIVOLT ester-based dielectric liquids for commercial, industrial, grid-scale and mission-critical BESS; PNNL’s GSL is now testing up to 100kW systems (facility construction began 2022; cost quoted at US$75 million; dedication Aug 2024) and will first test an Invinity VRFB; ON.Energy signed a 5GW transformer supply agreement with Prolec GE to enable deployment of ON.Energy’s AI UPS across data-centre campuses from 2026.
  • Background and details:GSL testing addresses previous limits below 10kW and will evaluate services such as peak shaving and frequency regulation; Invinity’s partnership with Guangxi UESNT aims to reduce VRFB costs; ON.Energy previously secured a US$77.6 million construction credit agreement (Pathward, NA and BridgePeak Energy Capital) to develop a 160MWh Palo de Agua BESS portfolio across Texas (multiple 9.9MW/20MWh projects).