Data centre of the month: Scaling Amazon’s Missouri data centre

A new data centre in Montgomery County, Missouri, is expected to bring funding for emergency services, a water stewardship project and a new community gathering space.

First announced by Amazon in June, the technology giant pledged to bring new community programmes, jobs and millions in tax revenue to the state, to further strengthen its investment in Missouri. The project is also supporting cloud computing technologies that power essential services, in addition to further embedding Amazon into local communities across the state.

Amazon’s history in Missouri

Amazon first invested in Missouri in 2017 and now employs more than 10,000 people statewide, supports 10,000 additional jobs in construction, logistics and professional services – jobs that offer competitive pay and comprehensive benefits. The company said it has also contributed more than US$9 billion to the state’s GDP since 2010.

“[This] reflects what we’ve learned … that if you show up as a real partner, listen to the community and invest for the long term, everyone benefits,” David Zapolsky, chief global affairs and legal officer at Amazon, said in June. “We’re building data centres that will create hundreds of new jobs, support educators and students and strengthen local infrastructure. Our investment matters most when the community is better for it.”

To strengthen its operations, in addition to ties with the community, Amazon has been extending its partnerships with community colleges, technical schools and universities across Missouri to develop training programmes to build, connect and power critical infrastructure.

“We are committed to being a long-term community partner in the communities where we invest,” the company said. “By listening, learning and collaborating, we strive to be a good neighbour and an active partner in fostering thriving, resilient communities.”

Operating at no extra cost: Prioritising sustainability

To ensure it doesn’t pass on additional energy costs to those in Montgomery County, Amazon is working with local utility company Ameren Missouri – specifically so the rates it pays cover the costs of its data centre energy use.

The company has invested in a carbon-free energy project in Missouri to generate 138MW of energy – enough to power more than 28,000 homes – to help increase overall energy supply and support long-term electricity affordability across the region.

Another big consideration for Amazon is water use, particularly as data centres can be criticised for guzzling too much water and impacting local communities. The technology giant said it’s investing to build the water infrastructure its facility needs and, once construction is complete, the entire system will be donated to Montgomery County Public Water Supply District No. 1 at no cost.

“This means the Water District can use it to expand water service to other parts of the community as it sees fit,” Amazon said.

It added: “Our data centres are designed to be exceptionally water efficient. Based on the geography of this area, we anticipate these data centres will only use water for cooling for 7% of the year or less, and that’s because on most days, we are able to use outside air for cooling. At full capacity, the data centre campus will use less than 0.1% of the aquifer’s annual volume of recharge from typical annual rainfall.”

On hotter days, if water for cooling is needed, the project will use a rainwater harvesting system designed to supply roughly 20% of the site’s annual water needs and reuse water six times through an on-site recycling system.

“Beyond our industry-leading water efficiency, we are committed to being water positive by 2030 in our data centre operations,” Amazon has explained. “With over 50 projects already underway, we are investing in replenishment and conservation initiatives that will return more water to local watersheds than we use in our direct operations, benefiting surrounding communities.”

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