Engineer testifies on Starpointe data center power generation
Hearing may continue through October
Hanover Township residents heard more information about a proposed data center campus in Starpointe Business Park and how it will utilize an on-site natural gas power plant during a Monday night hearing.
Two of the three township supervisors have been reviewing a conditional use permit application from Dallas, Texas-based developer Prime Data Centers LLC since early this summer, but have faced delays due to the slow pace of proceedings.
Township Solicitor Dennis Makel scheduled four additional meetings through the end of September to accelerate the process after a conditional use hearing on Sept. 1 at the Hanover Township Volunteer Fire Department Hall near Burgettstown was adjourned after over three hours of testimony from Prime Senior Vice President of Development Kate Nolan Bryden, who is the project lead for the proposed data center.
On Monday, Concord Engineering Group Project Executive John Coleman explained details of the 350-450 megawatt natural gas power plant that will generate electricity for the seven-building, 1.8 million square foot data center campus.
Concord is under contract through San Francisco, California-based Prime partner Generate Capital to design the power plant for the proposed data campus.
Coleman testified that the power plant will use 105 Jenbacher J620 engines to generate power, since this model has a multi-decade-long track record of reliability and easy access to spare parts.
He compared the generators to commercial car engines, albeit far larger in scale, which will require similar regular maintenance and upkeep to ensure steady performance.
Each individual engine will require around 200 gallons of coolant that is fed through a roof-mounted fan radiator system, he said. This system will help regulate heat within the generator building, and will only require coolant changes if the system is contaminated or damaged in some way, which is not a part of regular operations, Coleman said.
The Jenbacher engines will be enclosed in a sound-dampening package that is rated for 65 decibels measured at a 30-foot distance.
The building that will house the engines is also equipped with further sound-attenuating design features that will regulate the perceptible sound at the property line, he said.
The first floor of the building will house a battery system for grid management and load smoothing for the data center campus, which is a different type of battery system than used in residential solar systems.
Coleman said that the residential systems store and release power at a specifically designated later time period, while the system that will be used in the natural gas power plant will store and release energy constantly in order to regulate the microgrid that powers the campus.
Coleman said that the state Department of Environmental Protection is currently reviewing an air quality permit application for the power plant, but that he could not testify on that aspect in further detail since it was not under his purview.
At the request of a resident, Makel said that exhibits from the ongoing conditional use hearing will be posted to the township’s website sometime later this month so the public can review the materials.
Makel said the board is considering scheduling five additional meeting dates in October depending on how the conditional use hearing progresses.