Trash-Powered Data Center Proposed

A Colorado Springs developer wants to convert a former golf course and winery into a huge data center campus, where the servers would be powered by trash. Vineyard LLC has submitted plans for a project featuring five to 10 data center buildings and a 50-megawatt on-site power plant that would burn trash to generate power for the data centers, according to local media.

The 105-acre property off Interstate 25 in Colorado Springs was previously home to Pikes Peak Vineyards and a nine-hole golf course. It was bought in 2008 by Vineyard LLC, a partnership formed by local builder Vince Colarelli and Nevada businessman Ski Broman. The development firm presented plans this week to the Colorado Springs Urban Renewal Center, as they are seeking to designate the site as an urban renewal zone.

The Vineyards Data Center would be supported by a $200 million power plant. Colarelli told the Colorado Springs Gazette that he has discussed the facility with Colorado Springs Utilities, but there are few details on how the plant would be funded and built.

Other data center projects in Colorado Springs include a Verizon Wireless facility in a former semiconductor plant, a FedEx Corp. data center and a facility for Progressive Corp./Drive Group that opened in 2006.