Prudhoe Bay Data Center
The Prudhoe Bay Data Center is a project of Far North Digital, LLC.
The co-location data center will be certified tier level 3-4, offering high availability, reliability, energy efficiency, dedicated facilities management and the ability to scale services. Modular design and construction will facilitate remote installation of the data center and expandability as need demands. A prospective initial power plant capacity would be 120 MW, with significant expansion potential.
Site Benefits.
The Arctic location affords environmental, infrastructural and energy resource benefits not available elsewhere. The proposed site has an existing 43-acre pad, expandable as needed up to 100 acres. It is inside the access-controlled and 24-hour guarded North Slope oil field in close proximity to telecommunications points-of-presence. Project goals include:
Less than 4¢/KW power - The north slope is blessed with an abundance of stranded Natural Gas (NG), which can be converted to carbon neutral electrical power using fuel cells and CO2 capturing technologies.
Large building site - Prudhoe Bay and Deadhorse area possess enormous building and property assets that are no longer being utilized by oil production.
Secure telecommunications and high capacity data transmission - Significant fiber optic networks serve the North Slope from Fairbanks, and a number of submarine networks being planned.
Strategically located - seasonal deep seaport for large and heavy freight, a 6,500-foot commercial airport with daily passenger and freight flights to Anchorage and Fairbanks, and the Dalton Highway to Fairbanks.
Arctic climate - offers an abundance of server cooling without the need for inefficient HVAC systems.
Natural Gas.
Prudhoe Bay offers abundant, low cost, and renewable energy options. The North Slope has 35 trillion cubic feet of proven, but stranded, natural gas reserves, with still greater potentially recoverable gas. However, it does not have the infrastructure to distribute gas to large population centers. The costs to transport the gas to a global market (via new pipeline, liquification plant, port facilities, etc.) have so far proved uneconomic and that dynamic is not expected to change in the near term.
Existing infrastructure, currently handling 8 Billion Cubic Feet of Gas (BCFG) per day, with large-scale production facilities and skilled workforce on North Slope to support additional gas development and production. The principals of Far North Digital have developed over the years a close working relationship with many of the North Slope Stake holders, and is actively working to secure a stabile long-term gas supply agreement.
Prudhoe Bay’s daily production of NG could generate enough Electricity to power New York City for over 90 days. [1]
“Oil has been produced on Alaska's North Slope since the Trans-Alaska (oil) Pipeline system [TAPS] commenced service in 1977. However, the gas has remained stranded. Over 8 billion cuft of natural gas is produced daily at Prudhoe Bay with the oil, but has to be reinjected back into the reservoir due to insufficient infrastructure necessary to transport the gas to market.”
— Keith Meyer, John Tichotsky and Robert Hanson, Alaska Gasline Development Corp., Commercializing a Super Basin, Palladian Publications Ltd 2018, Pg. 11.
[1] - Figure is based upon published data for city's power consumption, NG fuel cell efficiencies, and standard values for NG energy value.
Cost Effective Construction Techniques for Remote Locations
Modular approach to traditional construction methods allows for a cost effective approach to remote locations.
Self-supporting External Structure - Capable of supporting 16 floors with no additional structure required.
Designed to be shipped anywhere - Prefabricated modules are built and pre-staged in an environmentally controlled manufacturing facility. They can then be handled as standard freight and shipped on container vessels to any container port in the world using existing barge networks,.
Plug and Play Commissioning - Each modular unit is fitted before leaving the factory with its appropriate power, network, HVAC, fire suppression, and monitoring systems. Each of these can be tested prior to leaving the factory. At the site, each module is installed in its location and coupled with support and network systems. Commissioning becomes an easier task at this point as all the systems have been pre-tested, and only the network commissioning is required. In addition, all parts, components, and hardware were pre-staged with each module making sure the technician has what they need.
Cable Routes.
Redundant, high capacity fiber optic cables currently extend to Fairbanks, Anchorage and the lower 48 via multiple diverse submarine cable routes. There are plans to build new submarine fiber systems connecting Asia and Europe through a cable nexus on the North Slope of Alaska.
West Entrance to NW Passage - Strategically located at the west entrance to the North West Passage
Strategically Located - Potential central point in a future transglobal low latency marine fiber optic network
Current High Speed Infrastructure - Existing High Capacity terrestrial fiber optic network to interior Alaska and lower 48.
Renewable Resources.
Environmental cooling using ambient Arctic air and water could reduce energy consumption related to cooling by between 40-60%. Solar energy from extended Arctic summer daylight hours, and the reliable wind resource (measured wind power high class 4-5 on a scale of 7) can contribute to the overall renewable energy mix.