Data center project eyed near Sidney, would use unwanted natural gas from Bakken

A proposed data center project near Sidney looks to use natural gas engines to provide nearly 15 megawatts to farm cryptocurrency on-site.

Currently eyed for agricultural land two miles south of Fairview in Richland County, the property is owned by Bitcoin mining business NYDIG. The data center would be operated by the same New York-based company on less than 1,000 square feet of land.

It’s at least NYDIG’s third data center project in Montana, having received air permits for two other developments in the area powered by similar means. The company did not return a request for comment.

The project would use unwanted gas generated by the Bakken oil field that is typically disposed of via flaring. Instead, it would be used to power the data center, according to the Montana Department of Environmental Quality’s draft environmental assessment on the project. The project would therefore eliminate emissions associated with flaring activities, though still produce its own emissions.

“Any beneficial impacts to air quality from eliminating or limiting the flaring of field gas would be long-term and minor,” the DEQ wrote.

The project would need precisely 14.9 megawatts. For comparison, a megawatt is generally enough to power 750 homes for a year. No personnel would be needed for regular operation of the data center, the assessment stated.

The project will be about a quarter a mile away from the Yellowstone River. Water was considered likely to not be impacted by the generation of the power, the assessment noted.

“Once the site is operational, it would be one of many oil and gas industrial sites in the area,” DEQ stated. “Cumulatively, these operations provide an important industrial base to the area.”

The DEQ also evaluated climate-warming greenhouse gasses with the assessment, but considered the amount produced would be about the same if the gas was flared rather than powering cryptocurrency mining. In the state agency’s May analysis it cited the Environmental Protection Agency’s Climate Change Indicators. However, that information is no longer available as the EPA has since removed the website.

The draft environmental assessment is currently undergoing a public comment period through June 15 for the project, referred to online as Davidsen Atlas. The proposed air quality permit has already caught the attention of some as data centers reach an all-time popularity low around potential environmental and utility impacts.

"This is happening all over the country — an intrusion of data centers without forethought to the long term and cumulative impacts,” Libby Knotts, a Lambert resident in Richland County and member of Northern Plains Resource Council said. “I've heard local concerns about maintaining ag land. We need to respect property rights, but we also need to consider and respect the common good, and the data center push is moving too fast to do that well. There is no free lunch. Can we foresee the costs? Is it worth the costs?"