Century Aluminum Kentucky smelter site to host data center

Chicago-based Century Aluminum Co. has announced the divestment of property in Hawesville, Kentucky, that once hosted a primary aluminum smelter.

The announcement was has been made the same week Century named Bechtel and ERM as two contracting firms who will be involved in building a planned smelter in Inola, Oklahoma, that is a joint venture with United Arab Emirates-based Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA).

According to Century, the Kentucky site will be redeveloped by Maryland-based TeraWulf Inc. into a digital infrastructure campus supporting high-performance computing and artificial intelligence (AI) workloads. Century says it will retain a non-controlling minority equity stake.

The 39-page Form 8-K document filed by Century with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lists Delaware-based Justified DataPower LLC as the buyer of the approximately 750-acre Hawesville site.

An article posted to the Hawesville-based Hancock Clarion website refers to Justified DataPower as “a company affiliated with TeraWulf.” The SEC form indicates Justified DataPower has agreed to pay Century $200 million in cash and “a 6.8 percent non-dilutive minority equity interest” in another TeraWulf affiliate called Raylan Data Holdings LLC.

Terms and conditions pertaining to environmental liabilities and zoning and permit issues tied to demolition, remediation and redevelopment activities are mentioned throughout the Form 8-K, pointing to the site’s history as a metals production facility.

“We are very pleased to see the Hawesville site transition to productive use that will benefit Hawesville and the entire Commonwealth of Kentucky,” says Jesse Gary, Century’s president and CEO. “Our agreement allows us to remain connected to the project and supportive of the community as the site is redeveloped.”

On its website, TeraWulf describes itself as a company that develops and operates “integrated, sustainably powered data centers for energy-efficient advanced digital applications.”

States Century Aluminum, “The Hawesville redevelopment follows a series of other significant investments in the United States by Century, [including] Century’s expansion of its Mt. Holly, South Carolina, smelter and its new, cutting-edge 750,000-metric-ton smelter to be built in Inola, Oklahoma with partner EGA.”

“Century is proud to be the largest producer of primary aluminum in the United States and is dedicated to continuing to invest domestically to meet the national security needs of the United States for this critical mineral,” says Gary.

In the TeraWulf transaction, BofA Securities served as exclusive financial advisor to Century while FBT Gibbons and Vedder served as legal counsel.