Amazon announced plans to invest $12 billion in northwest Louisiana to build state-of-the-art data center campuses that will support cloud computing technologies.
The development represents a coordinated, multi-site investment across Caddo and Bossier Parishes, designed to support regional economic activity, it said.
"As part of our ongoing commitment to fully funding the infrastructure needed to power our operations, Amazon has worked with the local utility, Southwestern Electric Power Company (SWEPCO), to ensure we pay 100% of the costs associated with our new data center campus in Louisiana," Amazon said.
This includes covering all expenses for new energy infrastructure and upgrades required to serve the data centers, which also strengthens overall grid reliability for all SWEPCO customers.
In addition, Amazon has invested in solar energy projects in Louisiana, bringing up to 200 MW of new carbon-free energy onto the grid, helping to increase overall energy supply and support long-term electricity affordability across the region, it said.
Amazon said the data center campuses will use only verified surplus water, which is water that exceeds what the community requires for current needs. By limiting the usage to a portion of this surplus, the project ensures no strain on local water supplies, it added.
"In this region's climate, water is anticipated to be used to cool the data centers for less than 13% of the year, only requiring water during peak summer temperatures. For the other 87% of the year, the data centers use natural air from the outside and push it directly to the servers for cooling. This approach reduces electricity demand by 25-35% at the same time when the grid experiences peak summer loads and regional power demand is at its highest."
As part of this project, Amazon is investing in local water and sewer infrastructure to responsibly source this water. Amazon has plans to invest up to $400 million in public water infrastructure to support the site and enhance system efficiency and strengthen resilience.
Additionally, Amazon is actively working with partners to develop water-positive programs that will return more water than we use to the local watershed by 2030. This commitment is part of Amazon Web Services’ global goal to be water positive by 2030, returning more water to communities than we use in direct operations, the company said.
