Overview
- TeraWulf has secured a site in eastern Kentucky that can support over 1 gigawatt of power for AI and high-performance computing.
- The initial 500 MW is anticipated to be operational by 2028, with an additional 500 MW expected by 2030.
- This acquisition aligns with TeraWulf's strategy to acquire large sites with power advantages as electricity becomes a crucial factor in AI infrastructure development.
TeraWulf, a Bitcoin mining and data center operator based in Maryland, announced on Tuesday its acquisition of a significant site in eastern Kentucky, which it aims to transform into one of the state’s largest artificial intelligence data campuses. This move highlights the impact of AI's power demands on land usage across central America.
The newly named "Muskie Data Campus," bought from Industrial Equity Partners, is projected to support over one gigawatt of data center capacity—equivalent to the energy needs of around 750,000 households.
Located within the 1,000-acre EastPark Industrial Park, the site contains about 285 acres that TeraWulf owns and controls, with options for additional land for future growth. The area is already zoned for the intended purpose.
Following the announcement, TeraWulf’s stock saw a notable increase, with shares rising approximately 9% to around $24.78. Earlier in the day, shares hit a peak of $25.92, marking a 12-month high, according to Yahoo Finance. The stock price has more than doubled since the beginning of the year.
This acquisition reflects a larger trend among tech and infrastructure companies to secure land with dependable, large-scale power, which has become a significant bottleneck in the AI sector's expansion.
"The primary constraint in this field is no longer the hardware itself; it is the availability of power, transmission infrastructure, and the certainty of execution," stated Paul Prager, Chairman and CEO of TeraWulf.
Kentucky Power is developing a 345 kilovolt substation linked to an existing 765 kV transmission network to support the campus. The initial 500 megawatts are set to be operational in the latter half of 2028, followed by an additional 500 megawatts by 2030.
The Muskie campus is TeraWulf’s second major digital infrastructure project in Kentucky, complementing its existing 480-megawatt Justified Data campus located in Hancock County.
Alongside other prominent Bitcoin mining firms such as IREN, MARA Holdings, and Hive Digital Technologies, TeraWulf is capitalizing on the increasing demand for AI computational power, leveraging its existing infrastructure. The company’s revenue from AI computing exceeded its Bitcoin mining revenue for the first time in the first quarter, despite reporting a net loss of $427 million during that period.