Applied Digital Commissions First 100MW Facility at North Dakota AI Data Center Campus
December 1, 2025
In a significant expansion of AI-ready infrastructure in the U.S. heartland, Applied Digital Corporation has announced the full commissioning of the first building at its major campus in Ellendale, North Dakota. The completion marks a key milestone for the company as it pivots to meet surging demand for high-performance computing capacity driven by artificial intelligence workloads.
The newly operational facility, designated Building 1 at the Polaris Forge 1 AI Factory Campus, has brought 100 megawatts of critical IT load online. The build-out was executed in two 50MW phases, with the second phase finalized in recent days following the first phase's readiness for service in late October. The entire Ellendale campus is slated for a total capacity of 400MW upon full development.
The project's trajectory underscores the rapid evolution of the data center market. Originally breaking ground in September 2022 with a focus on cryptocurrency and high-performance computing, the campus has since been entirely dedicated to cloud service provider CoreWeave. The relationship solidified in June with an initial 250MW agreement before expanding to encompass the campus's full planned capacity. This commitment is part of a substantial 15-year contract valued at approximately $11 billion, reflecting the strategic importance of securing large-scale, purpose-built infrastructure for AI.
Applied Digital, which rebranded from Applied Blockchain in late 2022 to signal its broader focus beyond digital asset mining, continues to operate other facilities, including a 180MW cryptomining data center in Ellendale. However, the company is now aggressively positioning itself in the AI infrastructure space, offering cloud services and planning to host next-generation Nvidia Blackwell GPUs. The strategic location in southern North Dakota offers potential advantages in power availability and cost.
The commissioning of this 100MW facility is more than a corporate milestone; it represents the accelerating geographic diversification of data center construction in North America. As power and land constraints tighten in traditional hubs, operators and their hyperscale customers are increasingly looking to markets like North Dakota to deploy the massive, energy-intensive computing required for the AI era. This project sets a precedent for large-scale, AI-dedicated campus development in the region.
Source: datacenterdynamics
Applied Digital Commissions First 100MW Facility at North Dakota AI Data Center Campus
