Jacobs to Lead Engineering on Hut 8's $10 Billion Louisiana Data Center Campus
December 22, 2025
The race to build infrastructure capable of powering the next generation of artificial intelligence and high-performance computing is driving massive investments, with Louisiana emerging as a significant new battleground. In a major development for the sector, energy infrastructure firm Hut 8 has commenced construction on the first phase of its colossal River Bend data center campus in West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana, a project valued at approximately $10 billion.
Dallas-based global engineering firm Jacobs has been selected as the engineering, procurement, and construction management (EPCM) partner for the landmark project. Jacobs will collaborate with critical digital infrastructure provider Vertiv. The project's financing is being underwritten by J.P. Morgan and Goldman Sachs, with project-level debt expected to cover up to 85 percent of the total costs. Hut 8 anticipates the facility will begin operations in the second quarter of 2027.
The award significantly expands Jacobs' footprint in the booming data center market. During the company's latest fiscal fourth-quarter earnings call, CEO Bob Pragada noted that Jacobs' data center portfolio has grown fivefold. “Jacobs brings decades of global expertise in delivering complex infrastructure for advanced facilities to some of the most discerning clients in the world,” Pragada stated. “Our collaboration with Hut 8 reflects the shared discipline and ambition needed to deliver a project we believe will become the benchmark for AI infrastructure.”
The scale of the River Bend campus is staggering. Hut 8 has secured an initial 330 megawatts of utility capacity from Entergy Louisiana, with agreements in place to potentially scale by an additional 1,000 megawatts. At full build-out, the campus would rank among the largest data center developments globally and stand as one of the largest private capital projects in Louisiana's history. At peak construction, the project is expected to employ roughly 1,000 workers on site.
This project is the latest in a series of hyperscale wins for Louisiana, following Meta's $10 billion data center project in Richland Parish announced last year. State officials hailed the investment as a validation of Louisiana's economic strategy. “Louisiana continues to win,” Governor Jeff Landry said. “Hut 8’s investment in River Bend builds on our track record of attracting global-scale projects in the industries of the future.” The state's competitive energy costs and strategic location are increasingly attractive to developers seeking sites for power-intensive computing infrastructure.
Source: constructiondive
