Google will spend another $600 million at its Berkeley County data center complex and build a third data center there, the company and Gov. Nikki Haley announced Friday.

The investment doubles what Google has committed to the site, bringing the total to more than $1.2 billion, according to Data Center Knowledge. Google opened its first data center building in Mount Holly Commerce Park in 2008. A second building, announced in November 2010, is now handling web traffic, the company said.

“Today’s announcement is another big win for South Carolina,” Haley said in a release. “When a world-class company like Google decides to expand in the Palmetto State, it shows we are providing the sort of business environment that helps foster success.”

Eric Wages, the site’s operations manager, made the announcement in a Google-themed tent pitched in the field where the new building will rise, The Post and Courier reported. Officials then broke ground with shovels painted in Google’s logo colors, The Berkeley Independent reported.

“When Google first announced plans to come to Berkeley County in 2007, we were attracted to not only the energy infrastructure, developable land and available workforce, but also the extraordinary team from the local community that made us feel welcome,” Wages said in the release. “Today’s announcement is just a continuation of our investment in the state.”

How many jobs

Google did not say how many jobs the expansion will create. For the first time, the company disclosed that about 150 people work at its two existing buildings, The Post and Courier reported.

The new positions will include facilities managers, network engineers, computer technicians and security staff, according to the newspaper. Wages said Google tries to hire locally.

“We do our best to get a huge portion of our staff from here,” Wages said, according to The Berkeley Independent.

Wages said Google hopes to start building “pretty much as soon as possible” and continue over the next few years, The Post and Courier reported. No permit applications had been filed yet, he said, to keep the announcement a surprise.

The center houses computers that support Google search, Gmail, Google+ and YouTube, and the company is adding capacity to meet demand for its services, Google said.

Incentives

Google was offered job development credits when it first came to the state in 2007 but did not accept them, in part because the site has not reached the 200-job minimum, a state Commerce Department spokeswoman told The Post and Courier. Google did not seek additional discretionary incentives this time, according to the company and Commerce spokeswoman Amy Love.

Haley credited legislation passed last year that exempts data centers from taxes on electricity and on purchases of computer hardware and software, the newspaper reported.

“Having Google is an absolute feather in our cap,” Haley said, according to The Post and Courier.

The investment is the largest announced in South Carolina since Michelin’s $750 million commitment in April, the newspaper reported, and the biggest in Berkeley County since Google’s first $600 million announcement in 2007.

Water and power

Wages emphasized the site’s energy efficiency Friday, The Post and Courier reported. Google is experimenting with using rainwater to help cool its servers, drawing from a stormwater pond north of the first data center, according to the newspaper.

Google’s facilities use 50% less energy than a typical data center, the company said, according to The Berkeley Independent.

Joe Kava, Google’s senior director of data center construction and operations, hinted at the expansion in November.

“We do have a lot of flat open space there, which makes it a great site for continued growth,” Kava told The Post and Courier then.

Local reaction

“Google has been a great partner, exceeding expectations when the data center was first proposed,” said Berkeley County Supervisor Dan Davis, according to Data Center Knowledge.

State Sen. Paul Campbell said he hopes Google’s growth prompts other businesses to put down roots in the county.

“Google’s expansion is an example of how Berkeley County can serve the needs of the world’s most innovative and dynamic companies,” Campbell said, according to Data Center Knowledge.

Since 2008, Google has awarded more than $885,000 in grants to local schools and nonprofits, the company said. It has also sponsored free Wi-Fi in part of Goose Creek and in Marion Square in downtown Charleston, The Post and Courier reported.