The following data is intended for informational purposes. It is not a response to any existing plan, though the City of Batavia did approve a master service agreement with Batavia DC Corp., a subsidiary of Hut 8 for a data center at 1780 Hubbard Ave. That data center is permitted up to 50 MW of power. “According to the City of Batavia’s Electric Department Director, the data center will impact Batavia’s ability to grow and provide additional electric service. This data center will severely reduce Batavia’s electricity reserve margin at the ComEd/Fermilab substation.”
In terms of water use, Batavia indicates: “The impact on the City’s water supply is expected to be minimal. The data center plans to use a closed-loop cooling system, which will be initially filled with approximately 425,000 gallons of ultra-pure water—delivered by truck, not sourced from the City’s water system. The system would only require refilling roughly every 2,000 days. Daily water use for other purposes, such as restrooms and sinks, is estimated at around 100 gallons.”
The two most frequently stressed resources by data centers are energy and water. Energy demands are a common concern in Kane County even before any data centers are constructed, “Based on the final results of the Kane County Water Resources Investigations done by the Illinois State Water Survey (ISWS), the projected population growth in Kane County through 2049, and associated increased demand, will cause several critical water supply issues of concern in the deep aquifer, shallow aquifer, and surface water supplies.” According to Shaw Local, the recent Project Cardinal data center “in Yorkville will use the same amount of water each day as 141 homes.” The estimates of consumption vary depending on methodology with the only conclusion being that the resource demands are high.
| KANE COUNTY | DATA CENTER | |
| Average Water Usage | 39.4 million gallons per day based on current population (assuming households of four and 300 gallons per day) | 5 million gallons per day (equivalent to the city of St. Charles) or about 12.5 percent of all usage based on county data |
| Average Energy Usage | 328.6 kWh per residence per day | 8,215,000 kWh per day |
In Illinois, the average monthly energy usage is 739 kWh. According to the International Energy Agency the average data center uses the equivalent of 100,000 households of energy. With nearly 500,000 people in Kane County, one data center would be responsible for nearly 20 percent of energy consumption. So, at 9,858 kWh consumed per month per household in Kane County according to the county’s 2040 Energy Plan and assuming 4 people per household, a data center would consume 246,450,000 kWh per month or 8,215,000 kWh per day.
SOURCES:
https://www.bataviail.gov/page/batavia-data-center-project-hut-8
https://cmap.illinois.gov/focus-areas/climate/water/
https://www.eesi.org/articles/view/data-centers-and-water-consumption
https://www.kanecountyil.gov/Pages/Newsletter/2010-12/WATERSUPPLYALONGTERMCHALLENGE.aspx
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095809925007994
