Brookfield CEO Bruce Flatt addresses the crowd in a tent at the former Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant site.(Derek Operle / WKMS)This story was updated at 7 p.m., after officials made remarks at the Paducah DOE site. A $100 billion data center campus will be built on federally-owned land in far west ern Kentucky. The U.S. Department of Energy detailed plans in a Wednesday release for the privately funded project on the grounds of the former Paducah Gaseous Diffusion plant site – which will also include a dedicated 2-gigawatt natural gas-fired power plant that could be constructed "at or near the Paducah campus." The release hailed the investment – which follows a request for proposals put out last fall – as one of the largest in Kentucky's history. The development dwarfs what was called the biggest private investment in western Kentucky just earlier this year, when Global Laser Enrichment detailed its plans for a $1.76 billion laser uranium enrichment facility in McCracken County. The project is expected to create around 8,000 construction jobs and 600 permanent positions.U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright speaks from the podium at the announcement of the Paducah American Energy Hub.(Derek Operle / WKMS)At a press event on the former PGDP site, U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright hyped up the development and its role in President Donald Trump's vision for the future. "Artificial intelligence: It just makes every one of us in this room smarter … a little bit more productive. I haven't met anyone who didn't want to be smarter," Wright told the crowd that had been bussed out to the DOE site. Republican Congressman Andy Barr, who advocated to bring the project to western Kentucky, touted the investment as a big win – saying that "a place that once helped America win the Cold War will now help America win the AI race" with China. "We're proving that America's AI future won't just be in Silicon Valley. It will be built in places like western Kentucky, powered by American energy, built by American workers and driven by American innovation," Barr said. "The defining competition of the 21st century will be the race for artificial intelligence. The nation that leads in AI will lead the global economy, and the nation that wins the race for AI dominance will set the rules for artificial intelligence. America must win that race, and … Kentucky will help lead the way."Republican Congressman Andy Barr addresses the crowd gathered on the former Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant site.(Derek Operle / WKMS)Barr also described the project as a "once-in-a-generation" development for Paducah, which he said has "embraced this opportunity." "For too long, people have looked at this site and seen what it used to be," he said. "Today, we celebrate what it will become." The Paducah DOE site was among 16 federally-owned facilities tabbed by the Trump administration last year for potential data center and energy infrastructure development. The former PGDP, shuttered in 2013, was built by the federal government in the 1950s to boost national defense efforts and later generated fuel for nuclear power plants. Ongoing cleanup operations at the site – which are being overseen by the DOE – are expected to run through 2065. According to the release, Brookfield – a New York-based global investment firm with more than $1 trillion in assets – will develop and operate the data center campus while NextEra Energy, one of the largest power utilities in America, will build and own the energy infrastructure that powers it. Brookfield CEO Bruce Flatt called the $100 billion investment "the first phase" of the company's plans in western Kentucky. Flatt also laid out his hopes for the advancements that an initiative the DOE is calling the Paducah American Energy Hub will bring. "This project will revitalize the site to deliver new infrastructure that will power the next generation of American innovation," Flatt said. "This factory will enable advances in science, medicine, manufacturing, energy and national security." The data center, per a Brookfield spokesperson, will take up around 600 acres leased by the company on the PGDP site. Its first components could come online as soon as 2028. The 1.8-gigawatt data center will be cooled using a "modern closed-loop" system that recirculates the same water, "requiring only small amounts of additional water over time" to replace lost coolant. "Closed-loop cooling systems just have a fluid – it's water and some refrigerants – that circulates around the data center and rejects the heat just via the air in the atmosphere," Wright said in remarks after the event. "So you won't see the big plume of water vapor that you see above typical industrial facilities. The water consumption will be, like, equal to a McDonald's."The former Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant site in far western Kentucky.(U.S. Department of Energy)According to a fact sheet supplied by the DOE, the data center and natural gas facility combined are expected to use under five million gallons a day – equivalent to a little more than 7.5 Olympic-size swimming pools – drawn from the Ohio River. Big Rivers Electric Power Corporation will provide "wholesale electric service" and Jackson Purchase Energy Cooperative – a member-owner of Big Rivers – will run retail electric service. The Paducah Power System will also serve as a community partner. Approval from the Kentucky Public Service Commission is still needed to put the power service agreement in place, DOE officials said. According to the DOE release, the project's energy generation and storage capacity are expected to exceed the data center's needs, allowing that additional electricity to run into the regional grid and – as outlined in Trump's Ratepayer Protection Pledge – help reduce energy costs for families and businesses. In addition to building a grid-connected natural gas-fired plant, NextEra Energy also plans to upgrade the existing transmission infrastructure and install up to 2.6 GW of battery energy storage to support the 1.8 GW artificial intelligence and high-performance computing (HPC) innovation campus. According to the release, the project advances what the Energy Department calls the American Energy Hubs initiative – an effort to transform former DOE sites into engines of affordable energy production, advanced manufacturing, technological innovation and economic growth. This isn't the only development around the former nuclear site. General Matter – a company with ties to billionaire investor and Trump ally Peter Thiel – announced plans last year to build a privately funded $1.5 billion uranium enrichment facility on the grounds of the Paducah DOE site. Across the fenceline, Global Laser Enrichment is developing a $1.76 billion project: what would be the world's first laser uranium enrichment facility on a commercial scale. DOE officials say the Paducah site's existing transmission capacity, water infrastructure, fiber connectivity, and available land make it "uniquely positioned to support large-scale AI infrastructure" and draw in major private investment while also continuing environmental cleanup on the site. "We are intently focused on finding ways to put federal land back to productive use for the American people," DOE Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management Tim Walsh said in the release. Construction is expected to be completed in 2031. Copyright 2026 WKMS ...read more read less