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mkhpalm 3 hours ago

I'm relieved to hear it's 138 megawatts instead of 6 to 10 gigawatts we keep hearing about elsewhere.

For 6–10 gigawatt data centers I consider what else that amount of power could support. At current desalination efficiencies, 6 gigawatts of continuous power could produce roughly 11–14 million acre-feet of freshwater per year, comparable to the historical annual flow of the Colorado River.

So a single 6 GW power supply could theoretically generate enough freshwater to replace most or all of the Colorado River's annual flow. The famous river that is stretched thin but supports up to around 45 million people from Denver all the way to San Diego and even Mexico. So the comparison is we can have a single AI datacenter or a drought-proof water supply for a region constantly under drought restrictions.

I'm not saying don't build the other dozen or so 6 to 10 gigawatt data centers everybody keeps talking about. I'm just saying maybe we can do one less of those and use some of that power to support ocean water desalination instead.

hooo 3 hours ago | parent [-]

138 megawatts is how much the company is investing in a "carbon-free energy project in the state" - not the power usage of the datacenter.

mkhpalm 3 hours ago | parent [-]

My mistake. Hopefully its less than 3-400 megawatts because that is the power needed to get San Diego onto 100% ocean water desalination. Currently 3/4ths of San Diego's water comes from the Colorado. That would be a big deal for everybody else in the Southwest.

mchusma 2 hours ago | parent [-]

The reason desalination hasn't happened in california is because of political entities like the coastal commission, which blocked a desalination plant that would serve most of LA's water.