TeraWulf Justified Data Campus, Hawesville, Kentucky

The Justified Data Campus is going up on ground that used to make aluminum. TeraWulf is turning the idled Century Aluminum smelter site in Hawesville, Ky., into an AI computing campus, and on Nov. 4, 2026, Fluor signed a definitive engineering, procurement and construction contract to build its first three data center buildings. Early works were already under way under a limited notice to proceed issued in March.

The same day, TeraWulf said it had about $19 billion in contracted lease commitments from Anthropic for the campus, with Google providing credit support for the project’s debt financing. ENR put the complex at more than $4 billion.

Project Scope

The property covers roughly 790 acres along the Ohio River, with more than 250 acres buildable, according to ENR’s earlier reporting. It already has multiple high-voltage transmission lines, an energized on-site substation and a direct tie to the regional grid, which is the whole point. TeraWulf doesn’t have to wait years for new utility service. Some existing structures will be reused, while the smelter’s cooling tower and process infrastructure come down.

The buildings are low-profile, one- and two-story modular structures delivered in phases. Cooling runs on a sealed closed-loop system with air-to-fluid heat exchangers instead of evaporative towers, and TeraWulf says the campus won’t draw from or discharge to the Ohio River in normal operation. Operational noise is designed to stay below 55 dBA.

Fluor is running the job from its North American data center execution hub in Greenville, S.C. The contract is a guaranteed maximum price deal, but the GMP isn’t final yet. Fluor expects to book the award in the fourth quarter once pricing on the first two buildings is locked, and it carries cost-overrun exposure up to an undisclosed share of its fee. TeraWulf expects phased ready-for-service dates starting in late 2027 and running through the second quarter of 2028.

Why It Matters

Brownfield power is the scarcest asset in the data center business right now, and a retired smelter is about as good as it gets: heavy transmission, a substation and industrial zoning already in place. The smelter idled in 2022 and took roughly 600 jobs with it, so the local stakes are real, and a petition asking for a pause drew more than 1,000 signatures over water, noise and transparency concerns.

The contract structure is worth watching too. Fluor spent years walking away from lump-sum risk. Taking on capped overrun exposure on a hyperscale AI campus says the margins are good enough to come back, at least partway. Exchange covered the EPC deal in detail when it was signed.

Project Team & Details