Google Signs PPA for 400 MW CCS Plant

Google has signed a first‑of‑its‑kind corporate power purchase agreement to buy most of the output from the 400 MW Broadwing Energy Center, a gas‑fired plant being developed by Low Carbon Infrastructure (I Squared Capital) at Archer Daniels Midland’s Decatur, Illinois site. The plant is designed to capture and permanently store about 90% of its CO2 by injecting it more than a mile underground into ADM’s EPA‑approved sequestration wells in the Mt. Simon formation; ADM will also take steam and some electricity from the cogeneration facility. Developers expect a final investment decision and groundbreaking in 2026, roughly four years of construction, and commercial operation with CCS online in the early 2030s, creating several hundred construction jobs and dozens of permanent positions. Google says the deal will provide reliable, low‑carbon baseload power to its Midcontinent (MISO) data centers and help accelerate deployment of CCS and other clean‑firm technologies. The agreement has drawn scrutiny: while bodies like the IEA and IPCC view CCS as a key decarbonization tool, critics and GAO‑cited past projects warn of high costs, technical and financial risks, and the danger of extending reliance on fossil fuels.