A company building a solar farm west of Fargo has plans to add a battery storage facility and potentially a data center in the area.
Minnesota-based Geronimo Power says it has been working with stakeholders in Harmony Township to explore the potential development of a data center.
The company said the data center is expected to be powered by new power generation, which may include renewable energy, battery storage and natural gas.
Geronimo Power started construction on its Harmony Solar project north of Mapleton this summer.
Harmony Solar will supply about 200 megawatts of power. The company also is developing Harmony Storage, a battery site capable of storing 200 megawatts of power produced by the solar farm for up to four hours.
Geronimo Power did not provide an exact location for a data center, but the company's website said it seeks to locate new data centers near its power projects.
Data center nondisclosure bill dies in North Dakota Senate vote
Cass County Administrator Robert Wilson said he met with officials from Minnesota-based Geronimo Power on Wednesday, though specifics such as size and exact location were not discussed.
Geronimo did not provide details of the size or energy needs of a potential data center.
Data centers need large amounts of energy to keep banks of computers cool. A data center under construction at Harwood north of Fargo is expected to use as much as 280 megawatts of power at peak demand times.
Wilson said there will likely be further talks with Geronimo officials, but nothing was planned at this time. He said much of the discussion focused on road access.
"That's really our role," Wilson said.
He said the situation could be similar to the Applied Digital site near Harwood, where the company paid to add a turn lane to a county road and make improvements to ease traffic congestion during construction.
Wilson said zoning and permitting decisions would fall to Harmony Township officials.
Mike Blevins, zoning administrator with Harmony Township, said Thursday there are no applications submitted for a data center.
According to documents filed with the North Dakota Public Service Commission, the Harmony Township Board of Supervisors approved an amendment to its zoning ordinance on July 21, allowing for a battery energy storage system at the solar farm site.
The Public Service Commission on Wednesday set a public hearing for the battery project for 10 a.m. Oct. 23 at the Days Inn in Casselton.
Geronimo's Harmony Storage anticipates starting construction in 2027 and being in operation by 2028. The 12-acre project about 3 miles north of Mapleton has a cost estimate of $249 million with an estimated lifespan of 30 years.
A noise assessment it filed says there are no noise standards in Cass County or with the state for battery storage projects, but the project would comply with the noise standards the state has set for wind farms.
This is the third battery storage project the commission has considered this year.
The Public Service Commission has siting authority over energy facilities such as solar farms, wind farms and battery storage sites, but not large power users such as data centers.
Data center development has become a top issue in North Dakota. A proposal for a statewide moratorium was rejected for consideration in the recent special legislative session.
Legislators debated a bill to ban nondisclosure agreements between data center developers and public officials and agencies. Lawmakers rejected the proposal, though the issue could reemerge in the 2027 legislative session that begins in January.
Opponents of data centers cite the potential for higher utility bills, water demand, noise, effects on health and loss of farmland.
Supporters say data centers provide jobs, property tax revenue and help meet growing demand for artificial intelligence.
Reach North Dakota Monitor deputy editor Jeff Beach at [email protected]
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