Microsoft announced in mid-February that it plans to invest in another expansion of its Cheyenne, Wyoming data center.
The tech giant is spending more than $200 million to add extra space to the Cheyenne data center, doubling the number of people employed there. The project will add 120 acres to the North Range Business Park, where the complex is located.
Microsoft's investment in the Wyoming data center began in 2012 when the facility was first constructed. In April 2014, the company spent $247 million to add space there. With the most recent investment, Microsoft has now put almost $750 million into the project. Construction is expected to begin in early summer 2015, but no timeline has yet been set for completion.
"We're excited to expand our footprint in Cheyenne and continue our strong working relationship with this community," said Christian Belady, Microsoft's general manager of data center services. "The demand for cloud computing continues to grow worldwide and we look forward to working with the community of Cheyenne to meet demand."
Along with housing a major production facility, the Cheyenne site is also where much of Microsoft's most innovative data center work is completed. The complex houses a zero-carbon, biogas-powered data center that was launched in 2014. It leverages fuel cells to convert the gas created during waste treatment into energy used to power the facility's equipment. The center is focused mainly on research for data center sustainability methods related to biogas and fuel cell technology, to promising alternatives to running buildings with energy from the power grid.
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