Chevron working on supply of power to data centers, executive says

By Shariq Khan and Shashwat Awasthi

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. oil major Chevron Corp (NYSE:) is considering ways to supply lower carbon power for data center operators, Jeff Gustavson, president of Chevron New Energies said in an interview at the Reuters NEXT conference in New York.

Gustavson’s comments follow a similar announcement by Exxon Mobil (NYSE:) on Wednesday, which said it is working to help advance low-carbon electricity by adding carbon-capture to natural gas-fired power plants supplying data centers.

“We are working on this as well,” Gustavson said, adding that Chevron’s experience supplying around the world, and operating natural gas fired power equipment, positions the company well to meet booming electricity demand from data centers.

Chevron has been working on this for more than a year, Gustavson said on the sidelines of the event. He declined to provide additional details, saying the company will make detailed announcements at an appropriate time.

“It fits many of our capabilities – natural gas, construction, operations, and being able to provide customers with a low-carbon pathway on power through CCUS (carbon capture, utilisation and storage), geothermal, and maybe some other technologies,” Gustavson said.

The rise of artificial intelligence and cloud computing is expected to drive electricity demand sharply higher, driving utilities to add new natural gas plants and delay the retirement of fossil-fuel power plants.

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