Amazon, STACK Eye $12B of Louisiana Data Centers
Construction is expected to begin shortly.
Amazon plans to invest $12 billion in Northwest Louisiana for the development of new data center campuses in the Caddo and Bossier parishes. The facilities, Amazon’s first ones in the state, will support AI and cloud computing technologies. Construction is expected to start in the following weeks, KSLA News 12 reported.
The campuses will take shape north of Blanchard Latex Road on State Line Road and some 5 miles north of Benton on the west side of Highway 3, according to the same source. Each site will encompass from 2 million to 3 million square feet.
STACK Infrastructure, the developer and owner of the campuses, is partnering with Amazon for the project and will lead the development of the facilities. STACK will work together with Southwestern Electric Power Co.
Amazon will cover 100 percent of all costs associated with its new data center campuses, such as expenses related to new energy infrastructure, upgrades for serving the facilities and others.
READ ALSO: Top Data Center Developers in the U.S.
The firm will also invest up to $400 million in local water infrastructure for the facilities as part of its commitment to responsibly source the public water. The company will develop water-positive programs aimed at returning the water used for its data center to the public watershed by 2030.
Overall, Amazon’s footprint in the state includes four fulfillment and sortation centers, seven delivery stations and seven Whole Foods Market locations. The firm’s activity in Louisiana also includes its solar energy projects; the company brought up to 200 megawatts in new carbon-free energy onto the grid, increasing the overall energy supply across the region.
Elsewhere in the U.S., Amazon launched a $10 billion investment for a new cloud computing and artificial intelligence innovation campus east of Charlotte, N.C., in Richmond County. The development will rise in the Energy Way Industrial Park and will include a minimum of 20 buildings.
AI-powered moves in the industry
Despite power constraints and energy sourcing issues, the data center industry remains one of the main investment focuses in the U.S. With the race for AI intensifying and an overall rapid growth in advanced tech, the interest in the sector will likely grow.
Recent industry moves include Meta’s $10 billion project in Lebanon, Ind. The company broke ground in the 1-gigawatt campus earlier this month as its second Indiana campus. The investment is one of Meta’s largest to date.
Also in Louisiana, Meta partnered last year with Pacific Investment Management and Blue Owl to secure a $29 billion in financing for its AI expansion. The development will rise on a 2,250-acre campus and will include more than 4 million square feet about 250 miles north of New Orleans. This project can become the largest data center development of this kind in the Western Hemisphere.
You must be logged in to post a comment.