The Department of Energy (DoE) has selected four sites – including two at national laboratories – to build artificial intelligence data centers and energy infrastructure called for earlier this year by the Trump administration.
DoE’s announcement on July 24 follows a request for information from the White House in April stating that it had identified 16 sites on DoE owned land to construct AI data centers. In its RFI, DoE said that it had evaluated thousands of acres of Federal land to locate data centers that would support rapid construction.
The four sites selected are the Idaho National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Reservation in Tennessee, Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Kentucky, and the Savannah River Site in South Carolina.
DoE said that the sites are “well-situated for large-scale data centers, new power generation, and other necessary infrastructure,” and that the agency will “move forward with plans to invite private sector partners to develop cutting edge AI data center and energy generation projects.”
In the Trump administration’s initial announcement that it would construct AI-related infrastructure on DoE land; it said that construction on sites could begin by late 2025 with targeted completion for the end of 2027.
DoE said that more details on the selected sites will be forthcoming and that partners “could be selected by the end of the year.” The department added that it is looking at other sites that “could issue solicitations in the future.”
“DOE looks forward to working with data center developers, energy companies, and the broader public in consultation with states, local governments, and federally recognized tribes that these projects will serve to further advance this important initiative,” said the department.
The announcement from the department directly follows release of the White House’s AI Action Plan on Tuesday, which dedicated multiple pages to powering AI data centers and expediting permitting for the construction of related infrastructure.