New project is set for former Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant complex in Piketon, opened in 1955. but now being decommissioned
A massive 10-GW data center, along with 10 GW of power generation capacity— 9.2 GW of which would be natural gas generation, is moving forward on the site of the former Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, a long-shuttered uranium enrichment facility in Piketon, Ohio, near Columbus.
Bechtel and Kiewit Corp. have been tapped for the project, called the PORTS Technology Campus, that is planned to meet surging AI‑driven energy demand. Construction is expected to start this year, according to the U.S. Dept. of Energy, which owns the 3,700-acre site. The firms are among members of the Portsmouth Consortium, which will participate in development.
The two firms, which rank No. 2 and No. 3, respectively, on the ENR 2025 Top 400 Contractors list respectively, will provide engineering, procurement, construction and other services to build power plants, substations and transmission systems. The site already has existing high-voltage power lines in place.
The project is part of a public-private partnership with DOE, the U.S. Dept. of Commerce, SoftBank, and AEP Ohio to redevelop the site, modernize energy infrastructure, and develop advanced computing in southern Ohio, according to DOE.
The partnership was announced in October 2025 as part of a U.S.-Japan strategic trade and Investment agreement, which includes about $33 billion in Japanese funding for 9.2 GW of new natural gas generation and also calls for a major expansion of U.S. energy exports to Japan.
Japan had committed previously to investing $550 billion in the U.S. including $332 billion for U.S. energy infrastructure.
“The Portsmouth Consortium is a powerful signal that the market is moving from AI ambition to AI execution, anchored in the infrastructure that makes it real,” said Catherine Hunt Ryan, president of Bechtel Manufacturing & Technology..
The Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant opened in 1955 to support the U.S. commercial nuclear power mission through production of enriched uranium, according to a DOE website. It closed in May 2021 when DOE began decontamination and decommissioning.
