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6h ago

NextEra and Brookfield Confirm $100 Billion AI Data Campus at DOE Paducah Site

The plan could become a template for private power builds that pair new gas generation with large battery storage to feed massive AI computing on reclaimed federal land.

Photo: JSquish / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)
Via nexteraenergy.com
Depleted uranium hexafluoride cylinders stand in a cylinder yard at the Paducah Site. A portion of the site’s inventory of more than 40,000 remaining cylinders will be available to commercial partners to turn legacy coproduct of the former uranium enrichment process into opportunities for future energy supplies. Source: DOE

Overview

  • The companies confirmed Wednesday that a consortium led by NextEra Energy and Brookfield will develop a $100 billion data center campus on the Department of Energy’s Paducah Site with an expected finish by 2032.
  • NextEra committed to add 2.0 gigawatts of natural-gas generation and 2.6 gigawatts of battery storage while Brookfield will own and operate a roughly 1.8 gigawatt data-center campus.
  • The site is a former uranium enrichment facility that already has transmission, water and fiber infrastructure but will require remediation, federal approvals and local permitting before construction can proceed.
  • Key next steps remain unresolved, including final financing and contracts, detailed environmental cleanup plans, and reviews by regulators and local utilities to prevent costs from being passed to households.
  • The project underscores broader pressure on U.S. power supplies as AI and hyperscale data centers drive rapid electricity demand growth and intensify competition for available grid capacity.