David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Amazon.com Inc’s cloud services division on Friday announced plans to invest an additional $35 billion through 2040 to expand its data centers in Virginia.
Amazon Web Services (AWS) said the new investment will create 1,000 jobs. Virginia Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin said AWS will establish multiple data center campuses throughout Virginia.
In 2021, AWS announced that it will invest $35 billion in data centers in Northern Virginia from 2011 to 2020, with 3,500 full-time employees in data centers throughout the state.
Pending legislative approval, Virginia is developing a new “Mega Data Center Incentive Program.” This allows the company to extend its data center sales and use tax exemption for equipment and software for up to 15 years.
AWS is also eligible for state grants of up to $140 million “for site and infrastructure improvements, workforce development, and other project-related expenses.”
After a lengthy contest, in 2018 Amazon announced a second headquarters in Northern Virginia called HQ2, which would eventually employ more than 25,000 people. As of April, Amazon said it had about 5,000 employees assigned to the site.
Youngkin has faced some criticism for withdrawing from the race to attract a new Ford Motor battery plant to be built at Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd CATL in China.
A spokesperson for Youngkin said earlier this week, “While Ford is an iconic American company, it has become clear that the proposal will serve as a front for the Chinese Communist Party.”
Ford declined to comment on Youngkin’s comments, the status of the planned facility and talks with CATL, but said in July that it plans to localize 40 GWh of battery capacity in North America from 2026. said.
(Reporting by David Shepardson and Akash Sriram from Bangalore; Editing by Maju Samuel and Aurora Ellis)