World’s Largest AI Data Center Announced on DOE Land

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: Energy cast is on the road in Ohio this month we are here at the Portsmouth site for a major announcement this is the first DOE site to reveal plans for an AI data center made possible with private investment this event marks a big step forward for this effort but it also shows how cleanup sites can be reused across the country a packed room and a major announcement in southern [00:00:34] Speaker 2: Ohio this is the center of our super intelligence something group is building [00:00:42] Speaker 1: the world's largest AI data center with its own power supply on US Department of Energy land at the former Portsmouth gaseous diffusion plant this is going to [00:00:53] Speaker 3: be a gigantic factory an ecosystem that will build intelligence take electricity and turn it into innovation turn it into opportunity turn it into medical advancements so that cancers will become manageable conditions as [00:01:11] Speaker 1: opposed to death sentences the project includes a 10 gigawatt data center depth to 10 gigawatts of new power generation including at least 9.2 gigawatts of [00:01:22] Speaker 4: natural gas generation this is not a project with debt this is not a project that won't finish this is a unique model in the world and this is the first of its kind this will produce reliable affordable energy in the United States of America it's [00:01:43] Speaker 1: is part of a broader U.S. Japan trade and investment agreement including 33 billion dollars in Japanese funding with plans that could grow into a 500 billion dollar partnership this massive investment is going to [00:01:58] Speaker 3: create a lot of jobs and there's going to be other industries that will come in here to be near [00:02:03] Speaker 1: this energy production to be near this intelligence generation the site once central to america's cold war defense is still undergoing environmental cleanup now private investment is helping speed that process up their leasing land right here in [00:02:19] Speaker 5: portsmouth that ground lease will help us accelerate the cleanup under the agreement softbank through sb energy will help fund that work [00:02:28] Speaker 1: transforming the former uranium enrichment site into the ports technology campus we've got to find the right [00:02:35] Speaker 3: communities that have the right local laws the right workforce the right attitudes and the right size and scale where [00:02:42] Speaker 1: where we can develop an industrial facility officials say the scale here is unlike anything built before there [00:02:48] Speaker 6: will be more knowledge more compute here than the entire current world capacity more than chat gpt more than gemini everything combined more will be based here in ohio the project also includes a 4.2 billion [00:03:05] Speaker 1: dollar investment in grid upgrades and new transmission lines with developers saying it will not raise [00:03:12] Speaker 2: customer rates i will commit right now right here we will protect the electricity bill [00:03:20] Speaker 1: construction is expected to begin this year creating about 10,000 construction jobs and more than 2,000 permanent positions what's happening at doe's portsmouth site didn't happen overnight this kind of re-industrialization is the result of years of cleanup investment and planning federal leaders say it's a model for what could happen at other doe sites across the country em assistant secretary tim walsh calls it a blueprint [00:03:48] Speaker 5: all of the land that we're either transferring to the community or leasing to these private companies they're bringing the capital right here in portsmouth you know there was a 33 billion dollar investment coming in for the 9.2 gigawatts of power generation that was made possible by the trade deal that president trump struck with the japanese prime minister but you know separate from that the ai data center they're leasing land right here in portsmouth that ground lease will help us accelerate the cleanup they're going to probably over the next few years spend as much as 200 million dollars to help us accelerate the the cleanup here in portsmouth so i think it's a win-win because it's private dollars helping accelerate the environmental environmental remediation here at portsmouth and across the complex i would say this is the blueprint for em [00:04:45] Speaker 1: going forward but to get to this moment it took years of hard work before this month's announcement crews were tearing down part of the old uranium enrichment plant the massive x 326 building stretched 56 acres and dated back to the 1950s but today that footprint is cleared and ready for what comes next nearly 70 years after it began operations that same land is now set to house what could become the world's largest ai data center the first phase of construction will include the x 326 footprint with more cleanup already underweight nearby facilities the site leaders say that progress is exactly the goal clean it up and put it [00:05:28] Speaker 7: back to use when we're through the the buildings are gone and the and the area below the buildings is also clean and reusable and so our our objective was to clean the entire footprint for for these re-industrialization options and so uh that that's what's you know that's what's been our kind of our north star the whole time and it's it you know it has it has turned out to be working um and now we're having a conversation uh you know regarding uh softbank energy who recognizes you we've got a great site with great assets for our our business and the area of that site has been cleaned up the soil has also been addressed and so now it becomes an opportunity for them and a location for them to set up um on this uh federal site the first [00:06:18] Speaker 1: phase of the ai data center will cover about 189 acres at the portsmouth site the company is also committed to build 10 gigawatts of new power generation tied into the local grid it's a model the department of energy hopes to replicate elsewhere but in ohio the project is already moving full speed ahead sb energy says it's securing equipment for the natural gas power plant while lining up construction so [00:06:45] Speaker 6: the power is ready when the data center comes online it starts with having ordered all the turbines um getting the delivery slots that match the the need that we have here is is absolutely critical um and and having that that those turbine slots reserved gives us now a roadmap of when we can bring this compute online so that's the first piece uh the second is we've been working very closely with the utility ap ohio on the plan to upgrade the grid and to to have that be synchronized with the generation coming online and then third we have planned for the data center to follow that ramp just just lagging slightly behind so the power will come online just before the data center each each different building does but these are built-in phases the first phases are already under construction we're doing civil works here today we've been doing civil works for a while we're going to go vertical on the first data center this summer and begin construction on the first power plants this year so this is moving fast and we will see [00:07:44] Speaker 1: commissionings over the next couple years this massive investment is not just about ai it's about what it means for the people who live here a leaders say it will bring thousands of jobs and help rebuild the manufacturing base that will support the project for a region that's seen jobs disappear this is a turning [00:08:03] Speaker 8: point it's just monumental to have this type of investment the the largest power generation facility in the entire country here in pike county we've got the workforce we've got the people it's it's going to be you know a generational change moving forward so it's it's a project that we just can't say enough about we're welcoming it we want the jobs and we want all the construction we're going to do it we're going to do it right [00:08:29] Speaker 9: this is going to be transformative for all of ohio actually but especially for southern ohio because this has been an economic engine for this entire area for so long and as we clean up the site you can see jobs going away this will give us an opportunity to keep the talent of the young folks that are growing up here and it's going to give us a real opportunity to make a real life difference for all those people [00:08:55] Speaker 1: that live in this area but with a project this big come big questions especially about power and whether families will end up paying more for it energy secretary chris wright says that won't happen he points to the ratepayer protection pledge which is designed to protect consumers not burden them [00:09:15] Speaker 3: the ratepayer protection pledge that president trump led and we signed in washington dc just a week or two ago virtually guarantees that the data center developers have to come in bring money in advance to enhance the power infrastructure even before they get one electron of electricity and they have to guarantee that rates will not rise in that community so actually it's a big win for local power uh people paying bills in the area but i understand people's concerns you put the new demand center in the community i understand people worried about that we have addressed those concerns plus like it'll actually be the biggest win the communities that have data center development are the communities that'll end electricity price rises and set themselves up for future electricity price declines and the opportunity for so many businesses to locate there and if you have a lot of businesses trying to hide [00:10:08] Speaker 1: hire workers that's what pushes wages up at the same time washington is setting the rules for how this technology grows the administration recently rolled out a national ai framework the plan focuses on six key priorities leaders want to make sure the u.s can compete while communities like this one see the benefits this month's announcement is part of a bigger push to use a doe land to help the u.s lead in ai and energy we'll continue to bring you updates as the project moves forward thank you so much for joining us thanks for this special edition of energy cast we'll see you next month back in oak rich