Amazon Backs out of Project Blue Data Centers

Amazon Web Services has pulled out of its role as future operator of the Project Blue data center complex in the Tucson, Ariz., area, according to sources.

Amazon has left the project because its operations aren’t compatible with the project’s recently announced plans to use air cooling instead of water cooling for the data centers’ servers, the sources said. Beale Infrastructure, the project’s developer, is now negotiating with Meta to replace Amazon as the center’s operator.

Project Blue switched to plans for an air-cooled operation after the Tucson City Council voted unanimously to kill its effort to be annexed into the city and to receive city water supplies for its operations.

More: Tucson.com

Exxon Halts Plans for Low-carbon Hydrogen Facility

ExxonMobil has pulled the plug on what would have been one of the world’s largest hydrogen plants after its $332 million grant from the Biden administration was taken away by the Trump administration.

In 2022, Exxon announced plans to build a facility at its refining and petrochemical complex in Baytown, Texas, with the capacity to produce 1 Bcfd of blue hydrogen, which is made using natural gas and carbon-capture equipment.

Since blue hydrogen typically costs about one-third more than the ​“gray” version of the fuel made with unmitigated gas, Exxon CEO Darren Woods said the company could not find enough buyers willing to pay the premium.

More: Canary Media

Eurowind Energy Exits 400-MW Battery Project

Danish renewables developer Eurowind Energy announced the sale of a 400-MW battery storage project in California under a plan that will provide it with cash for its European activities. The divestment is in the Potentia-Viridi battery energy storage system project, which Eurowind Energy developed under a 50/50 joint venture with Capstone Infrastructure. The project is expected to come online in June 2028.

More: Renewables Now