Applied Digital Corporation has recently announced that its 180-megawatt facility located in Ellendale, North Dakota is now operational. The Company began construction of the facility on September 8, 2022, and has managed to power and operate the new site within just six months of initial work commencement. This Ellendale next-generation datacenter is the second facility in North Dakota for Applied Digital, following the successful 100MW facility in Jamestown that was energized in 2022.
Once energized, the Ellendale facility, the Company’s total hosting capacity across its North Dakota facilities will reach 280MW. All facilities are contracted out to customers on multi-year terms. Applied Digital also plans to hire approximately 45 community members from Ellendale and its surrounding areas to operate the facility.
“The energization of this datacenter would not have been possible without the continued support of the Ellendale community and the team we have on site,” said Applied Digital CEO and Chairman, Wes Cummins. “We’ve been diligently working toward providing digital infrastructure solutions that provide differentiated services from traditional datacenters. Our Ellendale site is located where there is significant grid congestion that results in wind farms in the area curtailing output, making it an ideal location for our style of curtailable operation.”
As part of its operations in Ellendale, North Dakota, the Company had previously entered into a five-year Energy Service Agreement (ESA) with a utility partner in Dickey County. Alongside the ESA, Applied Digital and Marathon Digital Holdings have mutually agreed to exercise the option for an additional 70MW of hosting at the Ellendale facility, increasing the contracted capacity with Marathon to 276MW and bringing the Company’s total contracted hosting to nearly 500MW.
To finance the Ellendale facility’s construction, the Company secured a loan agreement (the “Loan”) with Starion Bank. The Loan has a principal amount of up to $20.0 million and a maturity date of February 3, 2028. The Loan’s proceeds will fund the capital expenditures associated with the Ellendale buildout.
In the Spring, a ribbon-cutting ceremony will take place, featuring notable members from the local Ellendale community and the executive team of Applied Digital.
Garden City Update
Applied Digital is currently working on resolving technical details for its 200 MW site in Garden City, TX, and as of now, there is no set turn-on date. The main challenge at the moment is the metering of energy on the site, which is unique due to its behind-the-meter aspect. The Company anticipates resolving this issue in the next few weeks. Construction has been completed, and more than 130 MW of miners have been installed and are ready to be energized as soon as the technical details are resolved.
