Applied Digital has announced plans to begin construction in September 2025 on Polaris Forge 2, a data center campus near Harwood, North Dakota. The facility is designed to deliver 280 megawatts (MW) of power for artificial intelligence (AI) workloads, with the potential to scale beyond its initial capacity. The initial phase of the project is targeted for completion in 2026, reaching full capacity by early 2027.
The proposal includes two initial facilities on a campus spanning over 900 acres, with secured power supply through Cass County Electric Cooperative. Applied Digital reports that, once fully operational, the campus will employ more than 200 full-time staff members and engage long-term contractors. The targeted market for this facility is high-capacity, AI-driven data center workloads, addressing the needs of hyperscalers and technology vendors focused on rapid scaling and efficiency.
Supporting infrastructure partners include Cass County Electric Cooperative and Minnkota Power Cooperative, both emphasizing electric supply reliability for the project. “We are excited to have the opportunity to provide Applied Digital with the power they need to drive innovation and technology in a way that benefits our communities and legacy members,” said Paul Matthys, President and CEO of Cass County Electric Cooperative. Mac McLennan, President and CEO of Minnkota Power Cooperative, added, “We’re proud to work with Applied Digital to help bring a state-of-the-art data center to our region. This project represents an important opportunity to drive technological progress and create lasting benefits for our cooperative membership.”
Applied Digital claims that its proprietary waterless cooling approach and rapid deployment model, already used at their Ellendale data center, will be utilized at the new campus. The company states its data centers are engineered to support AI, cloud, networking, and blockchain workloads with a focus on sustainable operation and rapid scale-out capabilities.
The company reports that it is in advanced negotiations for campus utilization with a “US-based investment-grade hyperscaler.”
Source: Applied Digital
