Paducah AI Energy Data Center Campus: Brookfield NextEra Specs
Status: Announced / Site Selection & Development Planning | Location: U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Paducah Site (Former Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant), McCracken County, Paducah, Kentucky 42001, United States
Project Overview
The Paducah AI Energy & Data Center Campus is a landmark privately funded mega-development planned at the U.S. Department of Energy’s historic Paducah Site in Western Kentucky, representing a major transformation of a former nuclear uranium enrichment facility into a next-generation artificial intelligence and energy infrastructure hub. Selected through a competitive DOE process, the development is being led by Brookfield, which is expected to develop and operate more than 1.2 GW of critical AI compute infrastructure, while NextEra Energy will build, own, and operate dedicated power generation systems supporting the campus. The project is designed to accommodate large-scale AI training, inference, high-performance computing, and other power-intensive digital workloads requiring substantial and reliable electricity capacity. A key feature of the development is its integrated energy strategy, with plans for up to 4.6 GW of dedicated generation and energy storage capacity. This approach is intended to provide the campus with a resilient and scalable power supply while helping limit additional pressure on the local electricity grid and protecting regional ratepayers from infrastructure costs associated with the development. By repurposing an established industrial site with significant existing infrastructure, the project also demonstrates how legacy energy and industrial locations can be adapted for the rapidly expanding AI economy. The combination of dedicated generation, energy storage, and high-density computing infrastructure positions the Paducah campus as a potential self-sustaining digital infrastructure ecosystem. With its large-scale compute capacity and integrated energy model, the development reflects the growing convergence of artificial intelligence, data centers, and dedicated power infrastructure in the United States.
Quick Facts
| Field | Value |
|---|
| Project Name | Paducah AI Energy Data Center Campus: Brookfield NextEra Specs |
| Location | U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Paducah Site (Former Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant), McCracken County, Paducah, Kentucky 42001, United States |
| Status | Announced / Site Selection & Development Planning |
| Commissioning | Multi-Phase Buildout Target (Full Completion Planned for 2031–2032) |
| Total IT Load | ~1,200.0 MW (1.2 GW) Total Critical Compute Capacity |
| Total Capacity | ~1,800.0 MW (1.8 GW) Utility Infrastructure Capacity across a multi-building brownfield supercomputing campus |
| Tier Level | Tier III / Tier IV Equivalent Fault-Tolerant High-Density AI Standards |
| Project Type | Purpose-Built Hyperscale AI Cloud, High-Performance Computing (HPC) & Energy Infrastructure 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 | Brookfield |
| Strategic Infrastructure Partner | U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Big Rivers Electric Power Corporation, Jackson Purchase Energy Cooperative, Paducah Power System |
| Construction Contractor | Specialized Mission-Critical Engineering & Industrial Infrastructure General Contractors |
| MEP Engineering | Brookfield Mission-Critical Infrastructure Engineering & NextEra Thermal and Energy Management Teams |
| Network Connectivity | Carrier-neutral campus utilizing legacy high-capacity site fiber connectivity, featuring path-diverse underground fiber entrance vaults, dedicated Meet-Me-Rooms (MMRs), and direct interconnects to national dark fiber backbones. |
| Power Infrastructure | Off-grid/behind-the-meter dedicated power ecosystem built by NextEra Energy, comprising up to 2.0 GW of natural gas-fired power generation, 2.6 GW of battery energy storage systems (BESS), and static 2N / N+1 static uninterruptible power supply (UPS) modules. |
Technical Specifications
| Header | Details |
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| Power Capacity | ~1,800 MVA Dedicated Utility Capacity (Supported by up to 4,600 MVA Total Power & BESS Generation Assets) |
| UPS Redundancy | Concurrently Maintainable 2N / N+1 Static UPS Systems |
| Cooling System | Closed-loop liquid cooling infrastructure optimized for direct-to-chip (DLC) high-density AI accelerators, rear-door heat exchangers (RDHx), closed-loop chillers, and zero-evaporation water-efficient thermal architecture. |
| Connectivity | Sub-millisecond optical fiber links connecting Paducah directly to regional fiber routes, Louisville, Nashville, St. Louis, and Chicago carrier hubs. |
| PUE Target | < 1.15 Annualized Operational Design PUE |
| Energy Mix | Dedicated on-site natural gas generation, large-scale battery energy storage systems (BESS), and potential integration of future clean energy resources. |
Milestones
| Header | Details |
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| Announcement | July 2026 |
| Construction Start | Subject to Final Definitive Approvals & Permitting |
| Phase 1 Go-Live | Target Operations (Phased Rollout) |
| Full Buildout | 2031–2032 Targeted Master Campus Delivery |
Investment Details
| Header | Details |
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| Total Investment | ~$100,000,000,000 USD (Privately Funded Campus & Energy Infrastructure Investment) |
| Funding | Private Capital & Infrastructure Investment (Brookfield & NextEra Energy Partnership) |