NEW YORK, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Google has

entered into the first corporate agreement to buy electricity

from a U.S. power plant using carbon capture and storage in a

deal to help fuel its data centers in the country's Midwest

region, the technology company said on Thursday.

Big Tech's plans to expand technologies like generative

artificial intelligence, which will require vast amounts of

electricity, have butted up against the realities of a U.S.

power grid running short on supplies.

That has led to a flurry of announcements in recent months

by companies like Google to help fund the development of new and

expanded power plants across the country.

Google's recent deals have included purchasing electricity

from advanced nuclear reactors, geothermal and hydropower. It is

also working with the biggest U.S. power grid, PJM

Interconnection, which covers the world's largest concentration

of data centers, to speed up the connection of new power

supplies.

Google's latest power offtake agreement involves a

400-megawatt power plant in Decatur, Illinois, which will be

developed by privately held Low Carbon Infrastructure. It is

expected to produce power using carbon capture, which involves

trapping about 90% of CO2 emissions and injecting them

underground, in the early 2030s.

Google did not disclose the financial terms of the deal.

Natural gas-fired power that is produced while capturing and

storing carbon dioxide had been missing from the equation, said

Michael Terrell, head of Advanced Energy at Google.

"We've been really focused on advancing all these new

technologies for around-the-clock clean technologies and this is

an important piece of the puzzle," Terrell said. "It's a very

important technology that the world needs."

The Broadwing project will be built at an existing

industrial site operated by agribusiness company Archer Daniels

Midland ( ADM ), which has been injecting carbon dioxide

underground from ethanol production since 2017. ADM will also

have the ability to purchase power from the operation, which

will initially deliver electricity to the grid.

Google and Low Carbon Infrastructure said they plan to

pursue additional CCS facilities in the United States, though

they did not disclose specific locations or timelines.

Carbon capture and storage has been promoted by the

International Energy Agency and the Intergovernmental Panel on

Climate Change as a tool to reduce emissions from fossil

fuel-based power and heavy industry. However, critics have

questioned its cost, scalability and long-term effectiveness.