Google The Dalles Data Center

The story

In 2005, Google secretly purchased 30 acres of industrial land along the Columbia River in The Dalles, Oregon. Sited directly adjacent to The Dalles Dam, the facility tapped abundant, cheap carbon-free hydroelectricity from the Bonneville Power Administration. Opening in 2006, this was the very first data center Google designed and built from scratch. It served as Google's secret proving ground for custom server motherboards, integrated 12V battery backup, and containerized racks.

Notable

• Opened in 2006 as the first large-scale data center campus designed and built directly by Google.
• Strategically sited on the Columbia River to tap low-cost hydropower from The Dalles Dam.
• Pioneered Google's early modular container-based server architectures disclosed in 2009.
• Established the Pacific Northwest hydroelectric corridor as a global destination for hyperscale cloud.

Expansions

• 2016: Second campus development adding multiple new buildings along Columbia River
• 2021: $600M expansion agreement approved with City of The Dalles and Wasco County