Joule, Caterpillar, Wheeler to power Utah DC

Author: Joe Peck

Joule Capital Partners, an infrastructure company, Caterpillar, a manufacturer of construction equipment, and Wheeler Machinery, a dealer of heavy construction equipment, have jointly announced an agreement to power Joule’s High Performance Compute Data Center Campus in Utah.

Joule says it aims to create the largest single campus in Utah.

Bringing multiple gigawatts of capacity to Utah

This initiative will provide four gigawatts of total energy to the centre of the Intermountain West.

The project will deliver prime power and integrated combined cooling heat and power (CCHP) systems with a by-design liquid cooling architecture.

Powered by a fleet of Caterpillar’s latest G3520K generator sets and support equipment, the distributed generation system produces electricity and captures waste heat to power and cool high-density server systems.

The provision includes 1.1 gigawatt hours of grid forming battery energy storage along with backup power generation served by diverse fuel sources.

Due to Caterpillar’s US-based manufacturing footprint, the full generation package should be able to be delivered ahead of other generation technologies. This speed-to-power advantage could be critical for meeting the growth in demand for compute capacity.

Beyond the gensets, this integrated system includes the controls, switchgear, inverters, energy storage, and CCHP, providing a total power provision for the Joule data centre.

Caterpillar and Wheeler will also provide service and support for the products and systems, aiming to ensure uptime and availability targets are met.

Comments

“This project represents the core of Joule’s mission: to deliver artificial-intelligence-(AI)-ready compute capacity by pairing world-class data centre campuses with reliable, on-demand power,” says David Gray, President of Joule Capital Partners.

“By combining Caterpillar’s advanced energy systems with Wheeler’s local expertise, we can bring gigawatt-scale capacity to market faster and more efficiently than ever before, ensuring our tenants have the power and reliability they need to thrive in the next generation of high-performance computing.”

Melissa Busen, Senior Vice President of Electric Power at Caterpillar, adds, “Caterpillar is uniquely positioned to tackle the growing energy needs for artificial intelligence and the evolving needs of modern infrastructure.

“This project is a perfect example of how we can deliver fast, reliable power generation to our customers through integrated energy solutions. We are proud to work with Joule and Wheeler to help bring this project to life.”

Bryan Campbell, CEO of Wheeler Machinery, claims, “This strategic alliance between Joule, Caterpillar, and Wheeler brings together world-class engineering, local expertise, and visionary energy design.

“We’re proud to help deliver a resilient solution ready to meet future compute demands and set a new standard for data centre infrastructure.”