Brookfield and NextEra plan $100bn AI campus at former Paducah uranium site
Brookfield and NextEra plan a roughly $100bn AI and data‑centre campus at the DOE’s Paducah site in Kentucky, leveraging 1950s‑era infrastructure for 1.2GW+ compute and up to 1.8GW of power, though timelines, financing and environmental trade‑offs remain unresolved.
Brookfield Asset Management and NextEra Energy are planning a roughly $100 billion AI and data‑centre campus at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Paducah site in western Kentucky, according to people familiar with the discussions. The privately funded proposal would convert parts of the 3,556‑acre former uranium‑enrichment plant into a campus with more than 1.2 gigawatts of compute and up to 1.8 gigawatts of on‑site power capacity, officials and reports say.
The project, first reported this week, matters because of its scale and location: Paducah was built in the 1950s for the Cold War nuclear weapons programme and stopped uranium enrichment in 2013. Repurposing a federal site for hyperscale computing would mark one of the largest private AI infrastructure builds in the United States and a prominent test of how legacy energy assets can be adapted for intensive AI workloads.
1.8GW power, 1.2GW+ compute capacity at Paducah
Brookfield would develop and operate a campus sized for roughly 1.2 gigawatts of data‑centre compute, while NextEra would provide generation and storage capacity that reporting says could reach 1.8GW for the campus itself and include up to 2GW of natural gas‑fired generation plus 2.6GW of battery storage. Those figures come from company briefings and people familiar with the matter; the project remains subject to definitive agreements and regulatory approvals.
The plan exploits Paducah’s existing footprint and transmission access. Analysts say the site’s large acreage, legacy transmission lines and nearby fibre routes accelerate buildout compared with greenfield sites, but the heavy reliance on gas generation will invite scrutiny from environmental groups and local permitting agencies. A senior energy analyst cautioned that “large gas capacity alongside batteries reduces near‑term interconnection risk but raises permitting and emissions questions,” reflecting a common critique of gas‑heavy power plans for data centres.
Brookfield’s $100bn AI fund and NextEra’s role in power supply
Brookfield has been explicit about a broader AI infrastructure strategy: the firm launched a dedicated AI Infrastructure Fund in November 2025 with a target to deploy $100 billion, and the Paducah project appears to be an early and visible manifestation of that ambition. Brookfield would act as the campus owner and operator; NextEra, the largest U.S. power utility, would be the primary power developer and supplier on the site, according to reporting.
The pair’s approach differs from rivals. Some operators lean on large grid interconnections and renewable PPAs or on small modular nuclear and purely renewable mixes; Brookfield and NextEra’s blueprint blends gas, batteries and on‑site generation to guarantee the high‑availability power demanded by AI clusters. That tradeoff — faster, dispatchable power versus higher near‑term emissions — explains why environmental groups and local regulators will be critical voices as plans progress.
Reporting shows timing discrepancies: one account cites a 2031 completion target from the Department of Energy, while others put full buildout around 2032. Company statements and press notices describe the project as privately financed but still negotiating definitive agreements.
Sceptics also note execution risk. Converting a former nuclear‑era federal site carries complex environmental remediation, security clearances, and long permitting timelines; historical precedent shows such conversions can slip materially on schedule and cost. “The numbers headline well, but large infrastructure projects rarely follow idealised timetables,” an infrastructure investor told Reuters in related coverage.
Brookfield and NextEra face competitive pressure from established hyperscalers and specialist data‑centre operators that are also locking in large renewable supply deals or exploring modular nuclear and long‑duration storage to serve AI loads. The Paducah plan’s scale would nevertheless make it one of the largest single private‑sector AI campus proposals in the U.S. if realised.
The next concrete milestones to watch are whether Brookfield and NextEra sign definitive agreements with the Department of Energy, the details of environmental and permitting filings at state and federal levels, and which power contracts — gas, renewable PPAs or a mix — win final approval. Those developments will determine whether the $100 billion headline becomes a binding commitment or stays a high‑ambition plan.
