Fluor signs EPC deal for three AI data center buildings on a former Kentucky smelter site

The deal expands the limited notice to proceed Fluor has worked under since March into a full scope that runs from design and procurement through construction, testing and commissioning, TeraWulf said Nov. 4. Prices are being fixed on a guaranteed maximum basis as design and buying move ahead. Fluor said it will count the contract in its fourth-quarter results once the first two buildings are priced, and that it absorbs overruns until they reach a set share of its profit. TeraWulf said the contract also gives it open-book cost reporting and oversight of procurement.

The site is a former aluminum smelter on the Ohio River, some 70 miles southwest of Louisville, that ran from 1969 to 2022. TeraWulf paid $302 million for it on Feb. 2 and got more than 250 buildable acres and an energized substation, ENR reported. Demolition, remediation and site preparation started before the EPC contract was signed. As of June 30, TeraWulf had set aside about $16.5 million for asbestos abatement and removal of spent pot liner, a smelter waste.

In July, Anthropic took a 20-year lease on roughly 401 MW of critical IT load, a deal TeraWulf puts at about $19 billion over its life. Google, an Alphabet subsidiary, is giving credit support for the debt that will pay for construction. On Aug. 21, state regulators at the Kentucky Public Service Commission signed off on a 482 MW power agreement with Big Rivers Electric and Kenergy that runs 15 years.

Under the EPC schedule, the first buildings are due to be ready for service in late 2027, with the last phases due in the second quarter of 2028. The companies have not said when pricing for the third building will be set.