Justified Data Campus: TeraWulf Hawesville Specs
Status: Under Development / Pre-Construction (100% Pre-Leased) | Location: 1627 State Route 3543 (Former Century Aluminum Smelter Site), Hawesville, Hancock County, Kentucky 42348, United States
Project Overview
The Justified Data Campus is a flagship 480 MW gross power artificial intelligence infrastructure development by TeraWulf Inc., located on a 250-plus-acre former Century Aluminum smelter site along the Ohio River in Hawesville, Kentucky. The project represents a major transformation of legacy industrial infrastructure into a high-density computing campus designed to support the rapidly growing requirements of artificial intelligence and high-performance computing. By repurposing existing electrical infrastructure and leveraging the site's established industrial power capabilities, the development is positioned to provide substantial energy capacity for advanced computing operations. TeraWulf has entered into a long-term 20-year, $19 billion lease agreement with Anthropic covering approximately 401 MW of critical IT capacity, underscoring the campus's role in supporting large-scale AI workloads. The facility is designed to accommodate intensive AI model training, inference operations, and dense GPU clusters that require significant power and advanced thermal management. Its infrastructure incorporates connectivity to the MISO power grid, energized high-voltage substations, and direct-to-chip liquid cooling technology to efficiently manage the heat generated by high-density computing equipment. The combination of substantial power availability, existing industrial infrastructure, dedicated electrical systems, and advanced cooling capabilities enables the campus to support scalable AI deployments while optimizing operational efficiency. Located within a strategically positioned industrial corridor along the Ohio River, the Justified Data Campus demonstrates how former heavy-industrial sites can be converted into next-generation digital infrastructure hubs. The development highlights the increasing convergence of energy infrastructure and AI computing capacity as hyperscalers and technology companies seek large-scale, power-intensive data center environments.
Quick Facts
| Field | Value |
|---|
| Project Name | Justified Data Campus: TeraWulf Hawesville Specs |
| Location | 1627 State Route 3543 (Former Century Aluminum Smelter Site), Hawesville, Hancock County, Kentucky 42348, United States |
| Status | Under Development / Pre-Construction (100% Pre-Leased) |
| Commissioning | H2 2027 Initial Delivery Target (Full Phase Delivery Early 2028) |
| Total IT Load | ~401.0 MW Critical IT Load Capacity (480.0 MW Gross Power Capacity) |
| Total Capacity | 250+ acre buildable brownfield master-planned AI supercomputing campus |
| Tier Level | Tier III / Tier IV Equivalent Fault-Tolerant AI Architecture |
| Project Type | Purpose-Built Hyperscale AI Cloud, High-Performance Computing (HPC) & Dense GPU Megacampus |
City Profile
| Header | Details |
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| City Name | Kentucky |
| Population | Approx. 4.5 Million |
| Urban Agglomeration | Approx. 3.1 Million |
| City GDP | Approx. USD 280 Billion |
| Per Capita Income | Approx. USD 58,000 |
| City Tier | Tier 2 US State Economy |
| Key Strengths | Bourbon production, automotive manufacturing, logistics & distribution, healthcare, agriculture, horse racing & tourism |
Companies Involved
| Header | Details |
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| Developer / Operator | TeraWulf Inc. |
| Strategic Infrastructure Partner | MISO (Midcontinent Independent System Operator), Anthropic (Anchor Tenant), Local Power Utilities |
| Construction Contractor | Specialized Industrial EPC & Mission-Critical Data Center Contractors |
| MEP Engineering | TeraWulf Global Mission-Critical Energy Engineering & Thermal Management Teams |
| Network Connectivity | Carrier-neutral facility featuring path-diverse subterranean dark fiber entrance vaults, dedicated Meet-Me-Rooms (MMRs), and high-capacity dark fiber interconnects to regional Midwest fiber backbones and major US internet exchange hubs. |
| Power Infrastructure | Multiple redundant high-voltage transmission lines connected directly via an energized on-site substation within the MISO power market, supported by static 2N / N+1 uninterruptible power supply (UPS) modules and backup industrial diesel generators. |
Technical Specifications
| Header | Details |
|---|
| Power Capacity | ~480 MVA Total Substation Grid Power Capacity |
| UPS Redundancy | Concurrently Maintainable 2N / N+1 Static UPS Systems |
| Cooling System | Ultra-dense direct-to-chip (DLC) liquid cooling systems, rear-door heat exchangers (RDHx), closed-loop chillers, cold-aisle containment, and air-side free cooling taking advantage of regional climate conditions. |
| Connectivity | Sub-millisecond optical dark fiber routes connecting Hawesville to regional carrier nodes, Louisville, Indianapolis, and Chicago internet exchanges. |
| PUE Target | < 1.15 Annualized Operational Design PUE |
| Energy Mix | High-efficiency MISO utility grid power supplemented by regional zero-carbon and clean energy procurement. |
Milestones
| Header | Details |
|---|
| Announcement | February 2026 (Site Acquisition) / July 2026 (Anthropic Anchor Lease) |
| Construction Start | 2026 / Early 2027 |
| Phase 1 Go-Live | H2 2027 |
| Full Buildout | Early 2028 Commercial Delivery |
Investment Details
| Header | Details |
|---|
| Total Investment | ~$1,500,000,000 – $2,500,000,000 USD (Estimated Facility Capital Expenditure) |
| Funding | Corporate Capital Expenditure / Long-Term Anchor Lease Financing (TeraWulf / Anthropic Agreement) |