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| Jason Bak, chief executive of Solar Alliance and Nuyen Enterprise Hosting, updates the Murphysboro City Council last Tuesday on his project to build a solar array on the grounds of the former Curwood packaging plant. (Curtis Winston photo) |
| By Curtis Winston• 01.21.2020 |
A project to turn an eyesore of a old factory into a gleaming high-tech solar-powered data center is moving closer to reality, officers from Solar Alliance told the Murphysboro City Council last Tuesday.
Jason Bak, the chief executive of Solar Alliance, said his company has started a spin-off called Nuyen Enterprise Hosting and is working to finalize $30 million in financing to turn the former Curwood packaging plant into a solar-powered data center.
Plans are to have that solar-powered data center crunch numbers for the Nuyen cryptocurrency and generate profits for the company.
"We would like to start immediately," Bak said, however the financing process is taking longer than he expected. He told aldermen that he hoped for a groundbreaking in the second quarter of this year. "It is highly unlikely financing will not be obtained," he said.
Bak said that the data-center business is extremely profitable, and that Illinois is embracing renewable energy and high-tech jobs. He pointed to Rivian, the electric-truck manufacturer that recently took over the former Diamond Star Motors plant in Normal.
Intially, the planned solar array would supply around 3 megawatts to the facility, providing around 30 percent of the data center's power needs, Bak said. The rest would come from Ameren, but the solar contribution would grow over time.
To underline Nuyen's commitment to the project, Bak introduced Sean Stofer, an engineer who will serve as chief operations officer in Murphysboro.
Announced in 2018, Solar Alliance's Murphysboro project has celebrity backing from actor William Shatner, who serves as commercial spokesman. The name of the Solar Alliance spin-off, Nuyen Enterprise Hosting, refers in part to Shatner's famous role as James T. Kirk, captain of the starship U.S.S. Enterprise in the "Star Trek" television series and films.