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Tennessee Data Center Intel
Latest data center news, projects, power and policy across Tennessee — updated daily.
Recent Tennessee data center news
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Environment and health in New Mexico: top stories of 2025
Source NM published a roundup of New Mexico’s top environment and health stories of 2025, highlighting PFAS contamination, a measles outbreak, federal land policy shifts, inclusion of New Mexican downwinders in RECA, data center development impacts, and groundwater toxic metals.
- Main coverage: Source NM summarized key 2025 actions: PFAS regulation efforts (EPA 2029 deadline for public water systems; NM Environment Department proposed PFAS rules to the Environmental Improvement Board with public hearings potentially as early as February), RECA expansion that now includes New Mexican downwinders with an application deadline Dec. 31, 2027 and an online portal the Department of Justice expects by year-end, and Project Jupiter — Doña Ana County approved $165 billion in bonds for a large data center campus that has applied for permits to build natural gas generating stations and was told the permit applications were “incomplete” and given until Jan. 19 to provide more information.
- Background and other details: The piece also reports a measles outbreak with more than 100 cases over six months (outbreak ended in September), discovery of toxic metals (antimony, arsenic, uranium) in Mora County groundwater potentially linked to Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon fire-suppression foam with approximately $2 billion remaining in federal compensation funds under consideration, and federal land policy shifts (USDA roadless rule consultation; Interior Secretary Doug Burgum’s comments on the Conservation and Landscape Health Rule) with New Mexico leaders urging protection around Chaco Culture National Historical Park.
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Analyzer delivers real-time insights for US power grid
Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Tennessee have developed a Universal GridEdge Analyzer that provides real-time, high-resolution insight into electric grid behavior and has won an R&D 100 Award.
- Device capabilities and deployment: The compact analyzer measures 60,000 samples/second of voltage and current waveforms, then compresses, encrypts, and streams the data to centralized servers; it can be embedded in power electronics, installed on distribution lines, or plugged into wall outlets, and is already being used by utilities in Hawaii and Texas to monitor fast grid dynamics and power electronics behavior.
- Context and applications: Building on UT’s FNET/GridEye network of ~200 U.S. sensors and ~100 worldwide, the new analyzer captures high-speed incidents that older systems miss and is specifically used to understand how data centers and distributed energy plants with batteries interact with the grid, including voltage fluctuations at AI data centers that can trigger rapid switches to backup power.
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HPE dominates TOP500 with trio of exascale leaders
Hewlett Packard Enterprise has built the world’s three fastest exascale supercomputers (El Capitan, Frontier, Aurora), delivered six of the top ten TOP500 systems overall, and supplied ten of the top 20 Green500 energy-efficient machines.
- Main announcement: HPE-built systems occupy the top three TOP500 positions (El Capitan, Frontier, Aurora). Key performance figures: El Capitan — 1.809 exaflops (4% gain), Frontier — 1.353 exaflops, Aurora — 1.021 exaflops; HPE also built six of the top ten TOP500 systems and ten of the top 20 Green500 systems using fanless direct liquid cooling derived from Cray designs.
- Background and details: The ranking confirms institutional locations and uses: El Capitan at Lawrence Livermore National Labouratory (AMD Instinct MI300A); Frontier at Oak Ridge National Labouratory (AMD Instinct MI250 + AMD Epyc); Aurora at Argonne National Labouratory (built with Intel). HPE announced additional sovereign AI installs: TELUS (Canada) — 22.74 petaflops and Alem.Cloud Sovereign AI (Kazakhstan) — 20.48 petaflops, and continues to deploy second-generation exascale designs, liquid-cooled architectures, and open-source tools such as Chapel under the High Performance Software Foundation.
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2025 in review: ORNL’s top science news stories
Oak Ridge National Laboratory announced delivery of two next-generation DOE AI supercomputers and multiple research collaborations across AI, quantum, nuclear and manufacturing.
- Main announcement: ORNL, in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy, AMD, and HPE, will deliver two AI supercomputers, Lux and Discovery, with Lux launching in 2026 and Discovery in 2028, to enable AI-capable research across energy, manufacturing, medicine and national security; ORNL also signed an agreement with Atomic Canyon to streamline nuclear licensing using AI (combining HPC, simulations and AI document analysis).
- Additional details and partnerships: ORNL worked with Kairos Power and Barnard Construction on large-scale 3D-printed polymer composite forms for concrete structures at Kairos Power’s Oak Ridge campus (Hermes demonstration reactor site); collaborated with EPB and University of Tennessee Chattanooga on the first transmission of an entangled quantum signal over a commercial network; partnered with Quantum Brilliance, NVIDIA, Beehive Industries, and others on quantum-HPC, additive manufacturing, and materials advances; managed by UT-Battelle for DOE Office of Science.
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Can Ford’s battery pivot power its future as EV sales stall?
Ford will dissolve its joint venture with SK On and repurpose the Glendale, Kentucky battery plant to produce lithium iron phosphate (LFP) grid batteries.
- Main action and implementation: Ford announced a pivot to grid storage, planning to spend $2 billion over the next two years to retool the Kentucky plant to make LFP cells packaged in 20-foot containers with at least 5 MWh each, and to ship at least 20 GWh annually by the end of 2027. Ford will dissolve the JV with SK On (SK On will take the BlueOval City/Tennessee plant) and will also produce cells for home batteries at its Marshall, Michigan factory.
- Background and concrete details: The move accompanies a $19.5–$20 billion EV-related write-down to reflect lost EV plans and the JV dissolution; the Kentucky facility will lay off about 1,600 employees, and Ford expects demand drivers including U.S. policy changes (the One Big Beautiful Bill Act) and rising domestic storage demand. Ford positions the effort as a redeployment of capital to serve grid and data-center customers amid increased U.S. push for domestically produced LFP cells.
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Plug Power 2025: A Year of Momentum, Milestones, and Meaningful Progress
Plug has published a year-end 2025 blog highlighting major operational milestones across its hydrogen electrolyzer, fuel cell, and production network businesses.
- Electrolyzers & fuel cells: Plug shipped >185 MW of GenEco electrolyzers in 2025 (total >317 MW across 70+ units, operating on every continent except Antarctica) and deployed >3,100 GenDrive fuel cell units, growing the installed base to >72,000 units and completing >20 million hydrogen fuelings in 2025 and >1 billion fuelings cumulatively.
- Hydrogen production & logistics: Its U.S. plants in Georgia, Tennessee, and Louisiana produced >4,600 metric tons of hydrogen in 2025 (Woodbine, GA >2,500 t, Charleston, TN 1,541 t, St. Gabriel, LA 561 t), with network capacity >40 tons/day, high uptimes (up to 99.7% availability) and an expanded logistics fleet of 34 liquid and 89 gas trailers, while new customer deals include 55 MW with Carlton Power (UK) and **8 GW with Allied Green Ammonia (Australia, Uzbekistan, UAE).
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Advanced Nuclear Developers Raise New Capital as 2025 Investment Hits Record Levels and Demonstrations Near
Radiant, Last Energy, and ARC Clean Technology announced the closing of major private funding rounds in mid-December 2025 to accelerate demonstration, factory-built manufacturing, and regulatory pathways for microreactors and SMRs in North America and the UK.
Fundraises & near-term uses: Radiant raised more than $300 million (Series D) on Dec. 17, 2025 to scale commercialization, break ground on the R-50 factory in Oak Ridge, Tennessee (construction slated early 2026) and test its Kaleidos microreactor at Idaho National Laboratory (DOME) in 2026 with initial deployments targeted in 2028; Last Energy closed an oversubscribed Series C of more than $100 million (Dec. 16, 2025) to fund its PWR-5 pilot at Texas A&M–RELLIS (DOE Reactor Pilot Program, target criticality 2026) and parallel UK licensing for PWR-20 commercial units (site-licensing target Dec. 2027); ARC closed a Series B (Dec. 16, 2025) to advance the 100-MWe ARC-100 deployment, DOE programs, Canadian project development, and KHNP collaboration.
Background, partners, and milestones: The rounds include strategic and VC investors (e.g., Draper Associates, Boost VC, Founders Fund, Astera Institute) and advisers (Orrick); Radiant announced customer commitments including Equinix (20 Kaleidos units) and DoD agreements (Defense Innovation Unit/Department of the Air Force), plus HALEU fuel commitments with the U.S. DOE and a commercial enrichment contract with Urenco; ARC completed Phase 2 of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission Vendor Design Review (July 2025) and formed NuARC with Nucleon Energy for Alberta deployments; multiple sector comparables cited include TerraPower ($650M Series C) and X-energy ($700M Series C-1) earlier in 2025.
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Ford scraps EV plans, shifts to hybrids, EREVs and low-cost models
Ford Motor Co. announced a major shift in its electrification, vehicle lineup and stationary energy storage strategy on Monday.
Main announcement — strategic realignment and product plan: Ford is shifting away from pure EV focus toward hybrids, extended-range EVs and more affordable EVs, aiming to offer a hybrid or multi-energy powertrain for nearly every vehicle by 2030 and targeting ~50% of global sales to be hybrids/extended-range EVs/EVs by 2030 (up from 17% in 2025). The company will launch five new affordable vehicles by 2030 (four assembled in the U.S.) and put Model e on a path to profitability by 2029. Key production timelines: the first EV on the new Universal EV Platform — a fully connected midsize pickup — will be assembled at Louisville Assembly beginning in 2027; the Tennessee Truck Plant will produce all-new truck models beginning in 2029; the Ohio Assembly Plant will build a new gas and hybrid commercial van starting in 2029.
Background, implementation details and capital/operations actions: Ford will scale its stationary battery storage business, converting its Kentucky plant to manufacture 5 MWh+ DC container systems for customers including data centers and utilities, with first shipments in 2027 and 20 GWh annual capacity planned. The company expects to invest around $2 billion over the next two years to scale battery storage and produce smaller Amp-hour cells at BlueOval Battery Park Michigan. Ford expects about $19.5 billion in non-recurring costs tied to the strategy (majority in Q4) and ~$5.5 billion specifically related to canceled vehicle programs and plant retooling (majority paid in 2026, remainder in 2027). Ford also announced a partnership with Renault to launch two EU EVs (first expected early 2028) and plans to hire thousands to boost U.S. production, including pickups at BlueOval City.
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EPA webpage maps out path for data-center developers around air rules
The Environmental Protection Agency has launched a Clean Air Act Resource for Data Centers webpage to guide permitting, modeling, and regulatory interpretation so data centers and AI facilities can be built more quickly.
- Main announcement: The EPA published a dedicated webpage (“Clean Air Act Resource for Data Centers”) providing regulatory information, guidance, and technical tools for modeling, air quality permitting, and regulatory interpretations relevant to data centers and AI facilities; the page also explains how developers may “legally avoid requirements” under the Clean Air Act provision Limiting the Potential to Emit. The launch is framed under Administrator Lee Zeldin‘s AI agenda and references the President’s AI Action Plan and January AI executive order.
- Background and details: The move is part of a broader Trump administration push to streamline permitting; EPA Assistant Administrator Aaron Szabo and the agency press office issued statements accompanying the release. The article references public pushback (including a cited $7 billion planned Michigan data center in a photo caption) and congressional activity such as bills on liquid cooling technologies and studies of data centers’ impacts on rural America.
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Elon Musk Accused Of 'Environmental Racism' After Building AI Supercomputer In A Now 'Noxious' Black Neighborhood
The Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) has notified xAI of its intent to sue under the Clean Air Act over alleged operation of dozens of unpermitted methane gas turbines at the Colossus data centre in South Memphis.
- Legal action & alleged violations: SELC’s notice of intent cites aerial and thermal imaging showing at least 35 turbines running ‘significant amounts of heat’, alleging operation without required permits or ‘best available pollution controls’; the Shelby County Health Department issued a permit in July 2025 allowing 15 gas turbines, while community groups say additional turbines remain onsite and unpermitted.
- Community health & stakeholder positions: Local groups (Memphis Community Against Pollution, NAACP) and leaders (NAACP President Derrick Johnson, State Rep Justin J. Pearson) allege environmental racism and link emissions (NOx, formaldehyde) to respiratory and cancer risks; xAI and Shelby County argue the facility will have emissions controls and aim to be “the lowest emitting of its kind”, and local business groups (Greater Memphis Chamber) point to billions of pounds of investment and economic benefits.