The Appalachian Basin Looks to Become An AI Basin As It Has the Natural Gas to Accommodate the Energy Needs

Guest post by Jim Willis of Marcellus Drilling News.

Massive growth in data center construction, and the jaw-dropping amount of power each center requires, bodes well for the natural gas industry in general and the Marcellus/Utica in particular.

In the past, electric power would have been provided via the nation’s power grid. But regional transmission organizations, which coordinate, control, and monitor a multi-state piece of the grid, are not in the best of shape. Thus, if the power can’t reach the data centers, bring the data centers to the basin, according to Brent Bobsein, Vice President of Sustainable Development at CNX Resources Corporation.

Bobsein says, “With grids constrained, the logical solution is to allow us (natural gas suppliers) to provide power to data centers, and for those centers to be built nearer to the power supply.”

Bobsein will discuss how Appalachian Basin gas fits into the equation for data center power needs during the first Appalachian AI Energy Conference. The one-day program is set for May 21 at the Hilton Garden Inn Pittsburgh/Southpointe and is presented by the H2-CCS Network and MDN friend Joe Barone from Shale Directories.

The Marcellus/Utica offers proximity to large population centers in the US and local access to an abundant and reliable supply of fuel, should data center developers and owners want to build their own quick-start combined cycle facility or select another option to provide data center power.

“There’s no question we have bountiful fuel here in the Appalachian Basin,” Bobsein said. “We’re offering direct, local power.”

With numerous brownfield sites to place the boxy centers, an abundance of water for cooling massive data centers, and an eager workforce, the Appalachian Basin region has all the pieces needed to establish a data center “hub,” according to Bobsein.

“We are in favor of public-private partnerships to fund data center projects,” he said.

Known primarily as a natural gas producer, CNX’s gas assets were derived mainly from legacy mining operations, which were spun off in 2017 from the former Consol Energy (now Core Natural Resources).

Current safety standards and regulations applicable to underground mining require that CMM be ventilated and released to protect the safety of underground mine workers, however CMM is a potent greenhouse gas and there are no current regulations that require CMM emissions to be captured or otherwise abated from release to the atmosphere. CMM has been recognized by the EPA as a clean-burning fuel.

Coal mines are responsible for nearly 10% of U.S. methane emissions, according to EPA, however <1% of mines capture their CMM emissions. Similar to Renewable Natural Gas (RNG), CMM can be captured and utilized rather than released to the atmosphere.

“We have a very real opportunity to expand and do more with our coal mine methane operations,” Bobsein said.

EQT Corporation CEO Toby Rice has been speaking continually about AI Data Centers in the Appalachian Basin. On CNBC, he gave a range of 10 to 18 Bcf of additional demand needed in the Appalachian Basin to meet the demand of these data center beasts. Using an average Marcellus well productivity of 10 Mcf/day and Toby Rice’s 18 Bcf, that works out to be an additional 1,800 wells needed to supply data centers. And don’t forget all of the pipelines, compressor stations, fractionation capacity, power plants, and electrical substations needed, too.

If you get a chance, be sure to attend the Appalachian AI Energy Conference on May 21.

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