Out with the old, in with the new, all with the dramatic flair of a controlled demolition.
A former coal-fired power plant described as the largest in Pennsylvania before it closed in 2023 was demolished to make way for one of the hottest property types: a data center complex. The demolition also made room for a natural-gas power plant to be built on the 3,200-acre site, with far fewer carbon emissions expected than the coal plant.
Demolition of additional structures on site is expected to take place later this year.
A General Electric spinoff company and construction giant Kiewit are leading the project 50 miles east of Pittsburgh in the latest effort to use outdated properties to meet soaring demand for data center space from the growing usage of artificial intelligence.
GE Vernova, Kiewit and equity partner Knighthead Capital Management plan to invest at least $10 billion on the project at the former Homer City Generating Station near Indiana, Pennsylvania, according to a statement. The data center will be powered by a new natural gas-fired plant the partners are constructing on site. The estimated completion date for the power plant is 2027 with construction of the data center campus to begin later.
Explosive growth in the data center industry, accelerated by the intense power needs of AI applications, is stressing the ability of electric utilities to provide power. In addition, as demand for data centers outweighs supply, developers are exploring many options for completing new facilities. In one such project, also in western Pennsylvania, TECfusions plans to convert a former Alcoa aluminum research facility to a data center complex.
Meanwhile, some communities are trying to slow rapid development of data centers to buy time to study the sector’s impact on power and water supplies and quality of life. The Atlanta suburb of Douglas County, with one of the largest concentrations of data centers in the area, recently approved a 90-day moratorium on pending applications for new facilities to assess the industry’s impact on its comprehensive land-use plan.
The GE Vernova-Kiewit development group last month demolished a portion the decommissioned Homer City power station to make way for the data center and the gas-fired plant. The power station opened in 1969 and was closed in 2023.
The new power plant on site will use natural gas obtained from the Marcellus Shale formation in western Pennsylvania. It will be the largest natural gas-fired power plant in the U.S., according to the companies.
GE Vernova, which was spun off from General Electric last year, plans to manufacture seven turbines for the gas plant. Kiewit Power Constructors will serve as general contractor and Kiewit Engineering Group will design the power plant.