MOSCOW, May 4. /TASS/. Data centers need to be set up in isolated power systems in the Far East, Chairman of the Russian Federation's State Council's Commission on Energy, Yakutia's Governor Aisen Nikolaev told TASS.
"I am confident that such centers are, of course, necessary. First of all, in data processing, in working with artificial intelligence. Another issue is that, in my opinion, they should be created in isolated energy systems, that have isolated energy sources that cannot work for the entire energy system," he said.
Yakutia has been working on setting up data processing centers (data centers), the governor said. "Gas fields, for example, which are very far from gas pipelines and cannot be used today, for example, to supply industrial consumers in the Far East. Such deposits are quite many in Yakutia. Nowadays, a number of companies are beginning direct implementation, not even preparations, but already the implementation of these projects related to creation of data centers in Yakutia. The biggest of them, which is widely known, is Novatek's project to set up such a global Yakut data center. They consider the capacity of energy facilities, which in the future may be increased to 2 gigawatts. Right now, we are speaking about creating a capacity of 200 megawatts. This is an important project for us," he explained.
The project is connected with the development of artificial intelligence in the region, he added. "We really hope that this project, like other projects that, once again, will be implemented in the region, will help both the region and the country to create such a system of big centers capable of generating and bringing to another level work with artificial intelligence, with data processing in this country," he said.
Earlier, Minister for Development of the Far East and Arctic Alexey Chekunkov told TASS the government did not plan to support mining by offering a single preferential regime in the Far East and the Arctic. The minister stressed he would support the creation of data centers and the development of artificial intelligence.