AI data center with a different mission being considered in Tri-Cities

The Department of Energy (DOE) is exploring the possibility of establishing a new AI data center at its Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in Richland, Washington, with an operational target of 2028. Battelle, which operates PNNL for the DOE, issued a request for information (RFI) to understand market capacity and design requirements for a facility to support advanced artificial intelligence computing for scientific and national government missions. The proposed data center would initially require 2 megawatts (MW) of power, with potential expansion to 40 MW. PNNL is particularly interested in sustainable energy options, including power purchase agreements, on-site solar or nuclear, and the potential for heat reuse from the data center. This potential PNNL project adds to at least three other significant data center developments in the greater Tri-Cities region. Amazon Web Services (AWS) is planning a $5 billion cluster of 16 data centers at Wallula Gap Business Park, having recently purchased over 500 acres from the Port of Walla Walla. Atlas Agro is also pursuing a $500 million data center adjacent to its planned fertilizer plant in north Richland, with a land deal pending with the City of Richland. Additionally, Trammell Crow Company is reportedly evaluating a site in the Lewis & Clark Ranch development area in West Richland. The PNNL initiative is part of the Trump administration's Genesis Mission, a DOE-led project involving all 17 U.S. national laboratories to accelerate scientific discovery using AI, supercomputers, and quantum technologies. PNNL's specific contributions under this mission include strengthening the national electric grid, analyzing nuclear materials, and integrating AI workflows into experiments, building on its recent work with systems like the Anaerobic Microbial Phenotyping Platform (AMP2) for biological science. The overall goal is to advance scientific research through sophisticated data analysis and automation.