Washington County Commission supports SAI.TECH grant application – Marietta Times

Feb 2, 2024
Washington County Commissioners, from left, Charlie Schilling, James Booth and Kevin Ritter discuss a letter of support for SAI.TECH to submit a grant application for funding for the Organization of Clean Energy Climate (OCEC) Computing Heat Recycle Center Education Program at the SAI.TECH U.S. R&D Center in Reno. (Photo by Michelle Dillon)
Washington County commissioners approved issuing a letter of support for a company that operates heat recycle computing centers to apply for a grant to start an education program on Thursday during the commission meeting.
Commissioners unanimously approved a letter of support for SAI.TECH to apply for a grant for the company’s Organization of Clean Energy Climate (OCEC) Computing Heath Recycle Center Education Program.
SAI.TECH is a heat recycle computing center operator headquartered in Singapore and is dedicated to providing clean computing services based on liquid cooling and chip waste heat utilization technology according to the company’s website.
SAI.TECH opened their U.S. R&D Center, also known as the Computing Heath Technology Development Recycle Center, in Marietta at 550 Gravel Bank Road in May 2023. The purpose of the center is to research the recycling of computer heat for use in agricultural, commercial, residential and industrial activities.
SAI.TECH is sponsoring the OCEC Computing Heath Recycle Center Education Program, which will be run by OCEC, a nonprofit corporation that promotes decarbonization solutions; renewable energy deployment; cryptocurrency, climate and carbon related academic research; and sustainable development, according to OCEC’s website.
In the letter of support that commissioners approved, they said the project will include a large greenhouse that will be an impressive learning laboratory for students and an opportunity for community service through the growing and distribution of vegetables in the greenhouse during winter months.
“Students in the school districts of our county can benefit greatly from the opportunities for hands-on learning at this facility,” the letter said. “The computer servers and heat exchange system will also provide students with a working model of this state-of-the-art technology.”
The first application of the heat recycling that they do at the R&D Center will be to provide low cost heat to the greenhouse. The OCEC Computing Heath Recycle Center Education Program is specifically designed to provide opportunities for students to learn about computing data centers, computing heat capture, and supply and recycling applications for this technology with both on-campus and onsite instruction, Dr. Tao Wi, SAI.TECH Chief Operating Officer and OCEC Board Member, said.
“We believe that with the rapid growing of computing data center, computing heat generation will accelerate and should be recycled and used as an energy source,” Wu said.
OCEC is applying for grant funds to buy equipment for students for hands-on vegetable growing, to develop curriculum and to cover the expense of teaching and training, according to Wu.
SAI.TECH committed to letting OCEC lease the greenhouse from them for free, to supply heat and other utility costs for free and onsite instruction and administration of the program for free, Wu said.
SAI.TECH and OCEC decided to locate the project in Washington County because SAI.TECH had their U.S. R&D Center here and they received strong support from the county and local communities. Washington County also has a very strong agricultural industry, Wu said about why the project is located in Marietta.
According to OCEC’s grant application for the project, the students they want to involve in the project are high school and college students in the Mid-Ohio Valley who are interested in AI and blockchain data centers, computing heat recycling system applications and community service.
The estimated number of students that the project will serve in one year is 5,000 students, the grant application said.
SAI.TECH and OCEC plan to donate produce grown in the greenhouse to food pantries or students experiencing food insecurity and they estimate they will be able to help 60 people this way, the grant application said.
The project will also involve collaboration from the Ohio State University Washington County Extension Office, Belpre City Schools, Fort Frye Local School and Warren Local Schools, according to the grant application.
The application said the school districts will collaborate by aligning their curriculum of school based learning with onsite education at the project site. Washington County Harvest of Hope will collaborate through the arrangement of picking up the vegetables grown in the greenhouse and distributing them to food pantries and community meal sites during the cold season.
Other business addressed at Thursday’s commission meeting included:
*Approved a resolution to allow Washington-Morgan Community Action to provide free rides on the Community Action Bus Lines (CABL) to promote Ohio Loves Transit Week Feb. 11-17. Contact Washington-Morgan Community Action with questions at 740-343-375 or 740-962-3827.
*Appropriated $109,988.57 in American Rescue Plan Act funds for contract services.
*Approved 18 Then and Now items, which are purchase orders that are more than $100.
*Approved invoice 13 of the Devola Sanitary Sewer Improvements Phase 2 for $560.889.87. There is $5,136,120.06 in funds ready to be spent to finish the project.
*Approved the contract for Veregy to modernize the courthouse elevators.
Michelle Dillon can be reached at mdillon@newsandsentinel.com
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