Google has signed an agreement to support the Broadwing Energy Center, a 400-megawatt gas-fired power plant in Illinois. The project will incorporate carbon capture technology to meet the energy demands of the company’s expanding data center operations.
The tech company has agreed to purchase “most” of the power generated by the Broadwing facility once it commences operations, which is scheduled for 2030. This initiative is part of a broader strategy to secure reliable power for its infrastructure. In an announcement regarding the agreement, Google stated its objective: “Our goal is to help bring promising new CCS solutions to the market while learning and innovating quickly.” The move comes as Google, like other major technology firms, seeks to manage the substantial and growing energy requirements of its large-scale data centers, a demand further intensified by the scaling of its artificial intelligence ambitions. This expansion has contributed to a corresponding growth in the company’s overall carbon footprint, prompting exploration of various energy technologies.
The technology at the core of the Broadwing project is carbon capture and storage (CCS), a process designed to filter carbon dioxide from the power plant’s smokestack emissions. The captured greenhouse gas is then intended for permanent storage underground to prevent its release into the atmosphere. The plan for the Illinois facility involves sequestering the captured CO₂ approximately one mile beneath the surface in a dedicated well located near the power plant. This method of direct sequestration differs from other CCS projects that have relied on selling the captured carbon dioxide for use in enhanced oil recovery (EOR), a process where CO₂ is injected into oil fields to extract residual reserves. The developers of the Broadwing Energy Center claim its system will be capable of permanently storing about 90 percent of the plant’s CO₂ emissions, a capture rate higher than what many existing CCS projects have achieved.
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The decision to back a gas-fired plant also reflects a key difference from past federally supported CCS efforts in the United States, many of which were attached to coal-burning facilities. In the U.S. energy market, natural gas has generally become a cheaper fuel source for electricity generation compared to coal, which could affect the project’s economic profile. However, the overall field of CCS is characterized by skepticism regarding its technical and financial viability. Critics express concern that investing in CCS technology could prolong the economy’s dependence on fossil fuels, potentially diverting resources from the development of renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power.
The history of CCS development in the United States includes a number of high-profile and costly failures. A 2021 report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) detailed the outcomes of federal investment in the technology. According to the report, the Department of Energy (DOE) had expended nearly $684 million on demonstration projects at six different coal plants. Of these six projects, only a single one became operational. The GAO report concluded that the other five projects were ultimately terminated due to “factors affecting their economic viability,” which included high costs and financial challenges that rendered them unsustainable.
The economic hurdles associated with CCS are substantial. A 2023 report, based on an analysis of facilities in Australia, found that the cost of electricity generated from power plants equipped with carbon capture technology is at least 1.5 to 2 times more expensive than electricity from solar farms, wind farms, or conventional coal and gas plants that operate without CCS. These higher costs present a significant challenge for widespread adoption. The issue is compounded by the fact that rising electricity demand, driven in part by the proliferation of data centers, has already been identified as a factor contributing to increasing utility bills for consumers across the United States.
The single U.S. CCS project that did proceed with DOE support provides a case study in the technology’s sensitivity to market conditions. The plant, which was attached to a coal facility, came online in 2017. Its financial model depended on selling its captured CO₂ for use in enhanced oil recovery. This reliance proved to be a critical vulnerability. In 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic triggered a global collapse in oil prices, the market for CO₂ for EOR diminished, rendering the plant’s operations economically unviable. As a result, the facility was shuttered for a period of several years, illustrating how the financial success of some CCS applications can be directly tied to the volatile commodities market.
Beyond the challenges of cost and carbon capture efficacy, gas-fired power plants present other environmental concerns that CCS technology does not address. These plants primarily burn methane, which the industry often refers to as “natural gas.” Methane is a greenhouse gas significantly more potent than carbon dioxide in its heat-trapping capacity. A persistent issue in the oil and gas industry is the routine leakage of methane from wells, pipelines, and other infrastructure throughout the supply chain. Capturing CO₂ at the point of combustion in a power plant does not mitigate these upstream methane emissions. Additionally, gas plants release other air pollutants, such as nitrogen oxides and particulate matter, which are known to pose health risks to communities located near the facilities.
