Virginia to Host Integrated Green Energy Center

Conceptual Illustration of Surry Green Energy Center. Credit: Green Energy Partners.

Green Energy Partners of Virginia (GEP), a property and project development company, has secured 641 acres in Surry County, Virginia, to create a Green Energy Center. The Surry Green Energy Center (SGEC) project will include the construction of 1 GW data centers, a Green Hydrogen Hub, and the deployment of four to six small modular reactors (SMRs), each generating approximately 250 MWe.

Initially, the data centers will be powered by grid electricity, with plans to later interconnect them to carbon-free, sustainable power from the co-located on-site SMRs. Current SMRs and advanced reactors, such as the NuScale VOYGR SMR, can generate carbon-free electricity and power highly efficient electrolysis processes to convert water into green hydrogen fuel. The SGEC aims to utilize the green hydrogen fuel on-site or transmit it off-site by blending it into natural gas lines traversing the property.

Mark Andrews, COO of Green Energy Partners, highlighted the significance of this project, stating that it would support America’s internet traffic, with positive national security implications.

The SGEC site possesses the infrastructure and transmission attributes required for hydrogen production and distribution, with oxygen as the only byproduct. The Surry location offers an abundant water supply for hydrogen production and cooling, establishing a national model for green data centers, carbon-free electricity, and hydrogen production.

Surry County Economic Development and the Department of Energy's Idaho National Laboratory have collaborated on the development of this green energy center. The project is expected to create over 3,000 jobs in the Surry area, boosting the local economy through millions of dollars in annual salaries and green energy revenue.

"Surry County's optimal location lets companies easily locate in the nation's first green integrated energy center. The county's strategic investments in growing its energy workforce have made it even more attractive to companies who want to expand and grow in a community which embraces sustainable carbon-free energy," said Melissa Rollins, Surry County Administrator

Jack Andrews, CEO of Green Energy Partners of Virginia, emphasized the importance of the green energy hub for reducing carbon in the atmosphere.