The Donald Trump administration made it official Friday morning, announcing the Department of Energy’s Portsmouth Site in Ohio has been selected for a multi-billion-dollar data center and power project thanks to a public-private-partnership agreement.
In addition to the federal government, the partnership includes SoftBank and AEP Ohio, an American Electric Power company, DOE said in a press release.
DOE, the Department of Commerce and the corporate partners will work together to redevelop DOE land and a new data center powered by up to 10,000 MW of new electric generation, according to the release.
“I’m pleased to be working with our partners at SoftBank and AEP Ohio on this important project,” Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said in the release. “By bringing new power online and upgrading our existing infrastructure, this investment supports the AI [artificial intelligence] boom and cutting-edge technologies while strengthening our energy system and helping keep costs down for the American people.”
Rumors of a big money announcement at the DOE site in Piketon were circulating in the hallways of the Waste Management Symposia the prior week in Phoenix.
In addition, DOE put out a media advisory March 13 saying the secretaries of Energy, Commerce and Interior were scheduled to announce a big redevelopment project Friday at the DOE Portsmouth Site in Ohio as part of a U.S.–Japan Strategic Trade and Investment Agreement.
During the Friday afternoon ceremony, Wright was to be joined by Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, Secretary of Interior Doug Burgum along with Masayoshi Son, Chairman and CEO of SoftBank Group Corp., a global technology company.
SB Energy, a U.S. affiliate of SoftBank, will develop a natural gas power plant to provide electricity for the data center, a source said Wednesday. During last week’s Phoenix conference, the DOE Assistant Secretary of Environmental Management Tim Walsh said natural gas will be the initial power source for certain data centers inside the DOE nuclear complex.
SB Energy is investing $4.2 billion with AEP Ohio to upgrade and build new transmission lines in Southern Ohio, DOE said in the Friday release.
“AEP Ohio is proud that this partnership will bring critical infrastructure to Appalachian Ohio,” said AEP Chairman and CEO Bill Fehrman. “If it were not for the partnership between all parties – the Administration, SoftBank and our team – this type of investment would not be possible. This partnership unlocks billions of dollars of electric transmission infrastructure, all without increasing customer rates.”
The longer-term plan envisions new nuclear power at DOE sites for data centers. Oklo is one such company planning to build a small modular reactor next door to the Portsmouth Site. Oklo is also putting together plans to provide power to Meta data centers in the region.