Applied Blockchain breaks ground on $100 million high-performance data center in Ellendale – InForum

ELLENDALE, ND — Applied Blockchain broke ground on a nearly $100 million, 180-megawatt high-performance data center Thursday, Sept. 8, in Ellendale.

The groundbreaking in Ellendale closely follows the opening of a similar facility in Jamestown, which went online earlier in 2022. The new facility is expected to open in the first half of 2023, a press release states.

The Ellendale site will be larger than its counterpart in Jamestown, Applied Blockchain CEO Wes Cummins told The Forum on Friday 23. September. While the Jamestown site consists of eight buildings drawing 100 megawatts, the Ellendale site will have 14 buildings and draw 180 megawatts. That’s comparable to powering 180 skyscrapers, Cummins explained.

Like the Jamestown center, Cummins said the Ellendale location will provide servers for the Bitcoin network. However, cryptocurrency is only the beginning of the center’s possibilities. “Right now we’re building out for Bitcoin and blockchain, but there are a lot of things like machine learning, artificial intelligence, natural language processing, all these applications that I think are really going to be the next step in computing,” Cummins said.

In addition to these capabilities, Cummins also listed genetic sequencing, protein sequencing and drug discovery as future avenues for the company’s data centers. The CEO said he is “confident” that Applied Blockchain’s Jamestown location will move beyond cryptocurrency by the end of this year.

Expanding beyond Jamestown is a natural progression for Applied Blockchain, Cummins said. The Dallas-based company is also working on a 200-megawatt plant in Garden City, Texas.

The Ellendale location was appealing because it is close to Dickey County’s power grid, which Cummins said is overflowing with excess energy generation. It’s a common scenario near wind turbines in both North Dakota and Texas, he added.

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Ellendale Mayor Don Flaherty explained that the county has a “power glut” as a result of excess wind energy. Applied Blockchain will use that power before it enters the grid, which Flaherty expects will be positive for the local and national power grid.

Overall, Cummins felt that the transition to the Peace Garden State has been positive for Applied Blockchain, hence the increased investment here. “We wanted more in North Dakota because it’s been a great experience for us,” he said.

As evidenced by the facility’s price tag, Cummins promised that Applied Blockchain plans to call Ellendale home for decades. “We end up spending close to $100 million just on the building in Ellendale. These things are built to last, he said. “The vision here is that this is a permanent structure, and we’re entering a really high-growth market for high-performance computing.”

Knowing that Applied Blockchain plans to make a long-term commitment to Ellendale has helped ease worried Dickey County residents, Flaherty said.

Some feared that Applied Blockchain would be subject to the vagaries of the cryptocurrency market and would pull up their bets if things went south. That’s not the case, Flaherty said. “They’re going to be able to do business because of the wide range of services that want to use their computing capacity. To me, that’s a good thing for Ellendale and a good thing for a small town,” he commented. It’s also something that’s going to be here 10, 15, 20 years from now. It’s not something that’s a glimpse of a deal.”

Because blockchain offers applications beyond cryptocurrency, Flaherty said Ellendale isn’t putting all of its eggs in one basket. “From my point of view, personally, I see it as a positive because it’s not like we’re all tied up in just one little thing,” he said.

Cummins expected Applied Blockchain to employ 30 people in Ellendale, a number similar to their staffing in Jamestown. Positions include roles such as data center managers, system administrators and operators. “Those are pretty good paying jobs, and they’re true tech jobs in an area that I don’t think really had those kinds of jobs before,” Cummins said.

North Dakota has been fertile ground for finding employees, which Cummins said has been “pleasantly surprising.” They have even overstaffed their Jamestown facility in an effort to train people for jobs in Ellendale or Garden City. “I think the jobs we offer are maybe a little more attractive than other options that might pay a similar amount,” he said. “We’ve found it to be a really great place to find employees for our data centers.”

When the Ellendale and Garden City facilities are operational, Applied Blockchain will approach 500 megawatts. The progression will not stop there, and Cummins expects the number to double a few years later. “Growth is very fast and I don’t think it’s slowing down anytime soon,” he said.

Meanwhile, Flaherty felt that the arrival of Applied Blockchain will be a positive change for his city. “Is that going to change things?” he asked rhetorically. “Yes. But it’s not going to change things, I don’t think, in a negative way, per se.”