Project Jupiter developer previews renewable energy plan

One of the developers behind the hyperscale AI data center known as Project Jupiter, which began construction in Santa Teresa in September, previewed an investment in renewable energy as part of a “portfolio-based” approach to scaling up power generated from renewable sources such as solar, wind and geothermal energy.

BorderPlex Digital Assets, which presented the project to state leadership and is working with Stack Infrastructure to build a campus and power generating facility for use by Oracle and OpenAI, branded its initiative Project Green in an announcement Tuesday.

In a statement, BorderPlex Digital Assets said Project Green’s purpose is “to advance renewable power as part of a portfolio-based approach to power generation and storage that delivers infrastructure affordability and reliability.”

The developer said it would seek market information in January from renewable infrastructure developers to be followed by a formal request for proposals. Its targets are to develop sources of up to 500 megawatts of renewable energy by 2028 doubling to a gigawatt, equivalent to 1,000 megawatts, by 2032.

The announcement comes weeks after BorderPlex Digital Assets affiliate Acoma LLC submitted air quality permit applications for a pair of microgrid facilities at the site that would produce upward of 2.8 gigawatts of electricity through natural gas turbines, raising alarms about carbon emissions and local ozone pollution. 

The state Environment Department’s Air Quality Bureau has requested more information before taking further action on the permit applications.

On Tuesday, the developer said Project Green would help fulfill a commitment to developing “reliable, low-carbon electricity generation as part of a broader portfolio of power resources supporting critical infrastructure and long-term economic growth,” in keeping with a memorandum of understanding BorderPlex Digital Assets inked with Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham in February.

The interest in attracting data centers to New Mexico amid the AI boom has raised questions about whether the projects, which demand tremendous loads of electric power with high reliability around the clock, could negate gains in reducing carbon emissions under New Mexico’s Energy Transition Act. While BorderPlex Digital Assets has vowed to comply with the law, which sets carbon-reduction targets on a trajectory to zero carbon for investor-owned utilities and rural cooperatives by 2050, a law pertaining to microgrids enacted this year includes a temporary exemption for self-sourcing power facilities like those Project Jupiter intends to build.

“BorderPlex Digital Assets believes in the power of ‘and,’” the developer stated. “By utilizing advanced technologies, we can build infrastructure for economic growth and deliver sustainable environmental outcomes.”

The stated aims are to assess ways of importing energy produced offsite through renewable sources to a delivery point for Project Green to support “the state of New Mexico’s environmental and economic goals,” the developer said.

The request for market information is set to be issued Jan. 16, and a website, ProjectGreenNM.com, has been established allowing interested parties to register. The website says imported power could be destined for “new on-campus demand, micro-grid configurations, and delivery to broader market or utility partners, subject to applicable approvals.”

“It is a good start, but much more is needed,” Philip Simpson, an engineer and clean energy advocate based in Las Cruces, said of the initiative. While a deeper analysis was still pending, he added that, compared to the energy needed for Project Jupiter's microgrid alone, “they need about 5 gigawatts of solar to meet the threshold of 50% renewable by 2030 that utilities have to meet. 500 megawatts by 2028 is one tenth of that.”

Doña Ana County Commissioner Manuel Sanchez said he was "excited" by the announcement: "It is demonstrating follow-through on commitments they made to Doña Ana County and its communities."

Algernon D'Ammassa is the Albuquerque Journal's Southern New Mexico correspondent. He can be reached at adammassa@abqjournal.com.