Amazon's $100M Land Deal Launches Its $10-Billion Data Center Project In Ohio

Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN paid more than $100 million for two parcels of land for two data centers in Ohio’s Fayette County.

Amazon Data Services Inc. bought 243 acres of land for $60.2 million and another 346 acres for nearly $42.2 million, according to a Tuesday Columbus Dispatch report. Construction on the data centers is expected to begin early 2025.

In Fayette County, where Amazon plans to spend $5 billion by 2030, the new site is expected to create more than 100 Amazon jobs and support thousands more across supply chains.

See Also: Nancy Pelosi Sells Nvidia, Apple And Loads Up On Google-Parent Alphabet And Amazon Calls

More To Come For Ohio’s $10-Billion Data Centers

The two parcels of land represent the first site of Amazon Web Service’s planned $10 billion investment in data centers by 2030 across Ohio, which will include up to eight more locations in the Buckeye state, according to the company.

“As AWS continues to invest in Ohio, we are grateful to the local leadership in Fayette County who support our ability to grow and innovate on behalf of our customers,” stated Roger Wehner, VP of economic development at Amazon Web Services. “We look forward to leveraging our strong public and private partnerships to extend the impact of our investment across the state, and bring new educational and workforce opportunities to the next generation of tech talent.”

Unprecedented Demand For Energy

In 2024, Google and Amazon added nearly 400 megawatts of data center capacity around the greater Columbus area. It was the most capacity added to any city in the United States, Bloomberg reported at the time.

“The last time the US electricity industry saw unexpected new demand growth like this was during World War II,” wrote Chris Seiple, Wood Mackenzie’s vice chair of power and renewables in an October 2024 report. Wood Mackenzie is a global provider of data and analytics solutions.

The surge in data centers means Ohio is expected to eat up so much electricity that demand for power in the region will be similar to all of Manhattan by 2030, according to American Electric Power.

“Demand for computing power from data centers, which require enormous amounts of electricity, is being fueled by artificial intelligence and other new technologies,” said Marc Reitter, AEP Ohio president and COO in a May 2024 press release. “AEP Ohio is seeing unprecedented demand from data center customers, especially in the central Ohio area.”

Meanwhile, the Electric Power Research Institute projects that by 2030, data centers could account for as much as 9% of the electricity produced in the entire U.S., more than twice their current usage. The non-profit energy research organization raises concerns over regional supply challenges.

“The data center boom requires closer collaboration between large data center owners and developers, utilities, government, and other stakeholders to ensure that we can power the needs of AI while maintaining reliable, affordable power to all customers,” said David Porter, EPRI’s VP of electrification and sustainable energy.

Now Read:

Photo: Shutterstock