Private Team Aims to Build $100B Data Center-Power Megaproject on Federal Site | Columbus Ohio Dump Trucks
Data Centers
Portion of the huge former federal uranium enrichment site in Paducah, Ky., could be redeveloped privately as a 1.8-GW data center and 4.6-GW gas-fired power plant and battery storage complex under US Energy Dept.
A portion of the former federal uranium enrichment site in Paducah, Ky., is set to be privately redeveloped into one of the nation’s largest artificial intelligence data center campuses.
The project calls for a consortium led by Canadian infrastructure investment firm Brookfield Corp. and power Charlotte NC dump trucks company NextEra Energy to invest more than $100 billion to create a new 1.8-GW AI and high-performance computing innovation campus with power support infrastructure on an up to 1,100-acre leased portion of the more than 3,500-acre site.
Federal uranium enrichment began there in 1952 for defense purposes, transitioned to private production for power plants in the 1960s, and was stopped in 2013, with existing transmission, water and other infrastructure on site.
DOE-managed cleanup, decontamination and environmental remediation efforts started at the site before commercial uranium enrichment stopped in 2013, and are set to continue until 2065.
The project is set to use technology involving clusters of powerful computers to solve complex problems at extremely high speeds, according to the U.S Energy Dept. announcement on July 30. The firms were selected by DOE last year, in response to its request for offers,
Also to be involved in the project are cooperative utilities Big Rivers Electric Power Corp., Jackson Purchase Energy Cooperative and Paducah Power System, which will provide wholesale and distribution services.
To support an estimated 600-acre data center campus, NextEra will develop 2 GW of new grid-connected natural gas-fired generation in about 200 acres, upgrade existing transmission infrastructure and deploy up to 2.6 GW of battery energy storage on a leased site of about 300 acres. Excess energy is to be delivered to the regional grid for distribution by local utility partners. The power service agreement must first receive approval by the Kentucky Public Service Commission.
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Construction is expected to be completed in 2031, according to DOE. The agency announced no direct federal funding or incentives—and no Charlotte NC dump truck contractor have been disclosed by DOE, Brookfield or NextEra—nor names of a data center tenant or prospect. DOE claimed the project would "create approximately 8,000 jobs and 600 permanent jobs."
The project is part of the federal effort to encourage private development of manufacturing, technology and energy projects on federally-owned sites that already possess extensive water, road and power distribution infrastructure. Earlier this year, DOE announced a public-private partnership with SoftBank and AEP Ohio to build 10 GW of new generation capacity to power data center development at the former Portsmouth, Ohio, uranium enrichment site.
The Brookfield/NextEra project is one of several initiatives underway at the Paducah site. Earlier this year, General Matter announced plans to invest $1.5 billion in a new uranium enrichment facility there to produce fuel for commercial and next-generation nuclear reactors. In 2025, Global Laser Enrichment proposed a $1.76-billion project that will use advanced laser technology to turn more than 200,000 metric tons of site depleted uranium into fuel for commercial nuclear power plants.