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 selected for the project, called PORTS Technology Campus, which is planned to meet the growing demand for AI-driven energy. Construction is expected to begin this year, according to the U.S. Department of Energy, which owns the 3,700-acre site. The companies are among the members of the Portsmouth Consortium, which will take part in the development.
The two companies, which rank No. 2 and No. 3, respectively, on the ENR 2025 list of the top 400 contractors, 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.
The project is part of a public-private partnership with DOE, the U.S. Department 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 US-Japan strategic trade and investment agreement, which includes about $33 billion in Japanese financing for 9.2 GW of new natural gas generation and also calls for a major expansion of US energy exports to Japan.
Japan had previously pledged to invest $550 billion in the US, including $332 billion for US 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 by producing enriched uranium, according to a DOE website. It closed in May 2021 as DOE began decontamination and decommissioning.
