Japanese technology giant SoftBank is planning to develop a multi-gigawatt data center campus on federal land in Ohio.

The US Department of Energy (DOE), alongside the Department of Commerce (DOC), this week announced a public-private partnership with SoftBank and AEP Ohio to redevelop DOE land in Southern Ohio.

Under the agreement, SB Energy, a SoftBank Group company, is planning to build 10GW of new power generation - including 9.2GW of natural gas generation – that will connect to the local grid and provide power to a new 10GW data center development at the Portsmouth Site in Pike County, Ohio.

Full details of the project weren’t shared, but the DOE said construction is expected to begin this year.

“Thanks to President Trump, the US government is leveraging its assets – like our federal lands – to add power generation, create jobs, and ensure the United States wins the AI race,” said US Energy secretary Chris Wright.

“I’m pleased to be working with our partners at SoftBank and AEP Ohio on this important project. By bringing new power online and upgrading our existing infrastructure, this investment supports the AI boom and cutting-edge technologies while strengthening our energy system and helping keep costs down for the American people.”

The $33.3 billion in Japanese funding for 9.2GW of new natural gas generation was previously announced as part of President Donald Trump’s US-Japan Strategic Trade and Investment Agreement in February.

“Our partnership with the Department of Energy strengthens America’s AI leadership, secures the energy and compute needed for the future, and powers the next era of innovation for the United States,” said Masayoshi Son, CEO of SoftBank Group Corp. “AI will transform every industry, and the PORTS Technology Campus will help deliver the next-generation infrastructure needed to unlock those breakthroughs.”

Bloomberg reports the data center portion of the project could total investments of $30-40 billion. The publication said the gas generation capacity will be installed across the region, rather than a single complex.

The DOE noted the project complies with President Trump’s Ratepayer Protection Pledge, which aims to force data center firms to pay for their own grid infrastructure. As part of the project, SB Energy is investing $4.2 billion with AEP Ohio to upgrade and build new transmission lines in Southern Ohio.

“AEP Ohio is proud that this partnership will bring critical infrastructure to Appalachian Ohio,” added Bill Fehrman, AEP CEO. “If it were not for the partnership between all parties – the Administration, SoftBank, and our team – this type of investment would not be possible. This partnership unlocks billions of dollars of electric transmission infrastructure, all without increasing customer rates.”

SB Energy was founded as a subsidiary of SoftBank in 2011. The company predominantly develops solar and battery storage projects.

SoftBank is a major investor in OpenAI and its Stargate data center build-out program. In January, SB Energy partnered with OpenAI on the AI firm’s 1.2GW Stargate data center in Milam County, Texas. SB is set to provide the power infrastructure. SB has previously signed a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Google in Texas.

“Our Japanese partnership is a direct result of President Trump's America First trade policies,” said US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick. “Japan has committed to invest $550 billion across America. With this historic trade deal we are reindustrializing the country through critical projects like this $33 billion dollar power project in Portsmouth, Ohio. Yesterday we announced additional mega projects in Alabama, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Texas.”

News that a data center might be coming to Pike County surfaced in January. New Day Data Centers LLC was proposing to develop a data center campus at the Department of Energy (DOE) owned Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Scioto Township.

Constructed in the 1950s and located south of Piketon, the plant previously produced enriched uranium, including highly enriched weapons-grade uranium, for the United States Atomic Energy Commission, the US nuclear weapons program, and Navy submarines. In later years, it produced low-enriched uranium for fuel for commercial nuclear power reactors.

The former gaseous diffusion plant covers 640 acres of the 3,775-acre site. Much of the site, including the diffusion plant, has been shut down and is undergoing decontamination, though other parts of the wider campus continue to operate.

The DOE listed the plant as one of 16 sites on federal land for "rapid data center construction” last year.