The Department of Energy has published a request for application seeking deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) data centers and power generation projects at its Idaho National Laboratory site.
Applicants will be responsible for constructing, operating and decommissioning each infrastructure project and must secure utility interconnection agreements for new electricity generation and storage systems, according to DOE’s Monday press release.
DOE said the proposals will be competitively evaluated for technological readiness, financial feasibility and regulatory requirements.
According to the RFA, DOE intends to select proposals that “integrate innovative energy generation and storage technologies with the AI infrastructure”, particularly nuclear technologies including small modular reactors and microreactors.
Initial applications will be due by Nov. 7, with following applications allowed on a rolling basis. DOE plans to make selections by Dec. 19.
DOE will also hold a hybrid industry day event on Sept. 26 at 1 p.m. Eastern Time. The event will be accessible through Microsoft Teams.
In July, INL was identified as one of the four sites DOE selected for prospective AI data center development. The site selection followed DOE’s April request for information about potential data centers on DOE land.
DOE’s Idaho operations office previously identified nearly 44,000 acres of land for possible leasing at the INL site.
“The identified tracts include the area already characterized for advanced nuclear reactor deployment for the NuScale Carbon-Free Power Project, which NuScale terminated in a letter to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in November 2023,” according to material included in the solicitation documents.
The Idaho National Laboratory’s high desert site comprises about 890 square miles
The DOE site office is now seeking proposals from companies to potentially enter into one or more long-term leasing agreements at the site that would be funded by the applicants, according to the press release.
“Today’s solicitation accelerates President Trump’s aggressive pace to deliver the necessary AI infrastructure and reliable power assets needed to transform scientific research that can help us solve some of the most complex challenges facing the world today,” acting assistant secretary of DOE Office of Nuclear Energy Mike Goff said in the press release.
