ZDnet reports on a wind powered data center project in Austin, TX

Wind-powered Texas data center moves closer to reality

By Heather Clancy | February 6, 2012, 4:27am PST

Summary: Project spearheaded by Baronyx and subsidiary WindData will draw power from offshore wind farms.

I used to hear a lot more about data centers powered by alternative energy two years ago, before energy efficiency measures started stealing some of the government and utility incentive thunder.

But WindData, an operator owned by renewable energy and data center project developer Baronyx, apparently is still hard at work on a $70 million data center project outside of Austin, Texas, that is supposed to be completely powered by wind energy. Yep, that’s right, Texas. When it is hot, the coastal winds apparently kick up nicely, helping fuel the growing demand for power in the state.

The power cost in reported to be sub $0.05 kw-hr

Because WindData is closely affiliated with Baronyx, it can offer competitive power pricing, at up to 4.6 cents per kilowatt-hour, according to some of the information that I have seen published about the project.