# PORTS Technology Campus

> Source: https://aiwiki.ai/wiki/ports_technology_campus
> Updated: 2026-08-17
> Fact-checked: 2026-08-17
> Categories: AI Infrastructure, AI Policy & Regulation, Data Centers
> License: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) - attribute to "AI Wiki (aiwiki.ai)"
> Cite as: AI Wiki. "PORTS Technology Campus." aiwiki.ai, 17 Aug 2026. https://aiwiki.ai/wiki/ports_technology_campus
> From AI Wiki (https://aiwiki.ai), the free encyclopedia of artificial intelligence. Reuse freely with attribution.

The **PORTS Technology Campus**, also called the **PORTS-Pike Technology Campus**, is a planned [AI infrastructure](https://aiwiki.ai/wiki/ai_infrastructure) and power-generation complex in Pike County, Ohio. Its federal-site component is at the US Department of Energy's Portsmouth Site near Piketon, and later plans extend the campus onto adjacent private land. SB Energy, a [SoftBank Group](https://aiwiki.ai/wiki/softbank_group) company, is the developer, owner, and planned operator.[4][5] The US Departments of Commerce and Energy announced the project on March 20, 2026.[1][2]

On August 17, 2026, [OpenAI](https://aiwiki.ai/wiki/openai) announced an agreement to lease approximately 8 gigawatts of information-technology load at the campus for 20 years. [NVIDIA](https://aiwiki.ai/wiki/nvidia) separately filed residual-value guarantees covering an initial approximately 4.25 GW of leases and announced a $1.5 billion investment in SB Energy.[3][4][5] The agreements did not make the campus operational. As of August 17, the first capacity was expected in 2028, later phases depended on new power and transmission infrastructure, and the federal permitting dashboard showed none of its four tracked authorization processes complete.[5][7]

| Field | Announced plan or status as of August 17, 2026 |
|---|---|
| Location | DOE Portsmouth Site near Piketon and adjacent private land in Pike County, Ohio |
| Developer, owner, and operator | SB Energy |
| Planned tenant | OpenAI under 20-year leases |
| Planned tenant capacity | Approximately 8 GW of IT load |
| Initial NVIDIA-supported leases | Approximately 4.25 GW of IT load |
| Additional NVIDIA support | Approximately 3.8 GW at NVIDIA's discretion; described as a 3.75 GW option in the joint release |
| Broader campus plan | Up to 10 GW of data-center capacity and 10 GW of new power generation |
| First phase | 800 MW expected in 2028, primarily using existing AEP infrastructure |
| New transmission | Planned $4.2 billion, 765 kV build; power flow expected in 2029 if approved |
| Federal permitting status | In progress; zero of four tracked processes complete |

## Site history and name

The Portsmouth Site is a former uranium-enrichment complex that the federal government selected in 1952. Enrichment operations began in 1956, environmental cleanup began in 1989, and decontamination and decommissioning work began in 2011. DOE continues to manage cleanup and reuse of the site.[9] The word `Portsmouth` in the project history refers to the federal site's name. The campus is near Piketon in Pike County, rather than in the city of Portsmouth.

The March federal announcements used the name PORTS Technology Campus and described an initial phase on 189 acres of DOE land.[1][2] A separate private-land component was later added beside the federal property. The federal permitting dashboard described that component as approximately 1,300 acres with two data-center buildings and supporting infrastructure.[7] Local reporting found that an earlier Ohio environmental filing covered approximately 1,016 acres. SB Energy said the federal and private components together form the proposed 10 GW campus and that the final layout remained under development.[11]

The transaction parties adopted the expanded name PORTS-Pike Technology Campus in their August announcement.[4][5] Both names refer to the same overall project. The change does not mean that a second 10 GW campus was added on private land.

## Announcement and planned scale

Commerce and Energy announced a partnership with SoftBank and AEP Ohio at a March 20 groundbreaking near Piketon. The plan called for a [data center](https://aiwiki.ai/wiki/data_center) campus with up to 10 GW of capacity and an equal amount of new power generation. Commerce said the generation program included 9.2 GW of natural-gas capacity and that $33.3 billion from a US-Japan investment program would support the gas-generation component. It also described a $4.2 billion transmission commitment by SB Energy.[1]

Those figures are plans, not completed capacity. They also use two different measurements. Generation capacity measures potential electrical output, while IT load measures the power available to computing equipment. The August OpenAI agreement covers approximately 8 GW of IT load, not the entire 10 GW generation plan.[4][5]

OpenAI said construction would proceed in phases through 2032. It expects the first 800 MW in 2028, primarily through existing AEP infrastructure. Later phases require new generation, transmission, and other site infrastructure.[5] The joint announcement similarly said first phased service was expected beginning in 2028.[4]

## OpenAI tenancy and computing infrastructure

The August agreement makes OpenAI the customer and tenant for approximately 8 GW of IT capacity. SB Energy is to build, own, and operate the campus infrastructure under 20-year leases, while OpenAI operates its computing systems within the leased capacity.[4][5] OpenAI said its payments begin as capacity becomes available.[5]

The joint release names NVIDIA as the exclusive computing-infrastructure provider for the initial 4.25 GW and an option covering the remaining 3.75 GW.[4] NVIDIA's regulatory filing describes the discretionary additional amount as approximately 3.8 GW, a rounded version of the same remaining capacity.[3] The filing also says the initial capacity is intended for NVIDIA DSX infrastructure, subject to limited exceptions.[3]

The documents do not disclose a completed order for a specific number of GPUs or a fixed purchase price for the computing systems. Estimates in NVIDIA executive commentary about GPU counts and future hardware revenue are vendor projections, not terms of the leases or guarantees.[3][6]

## NVIDIA residual-value guarantees

NVIDIA reported the guarantees as material definitive agreements in an August 17 Form 8-K. The agreements are with SB Energy as lessor, not a direct purchase of computing capacity from OpenAI. They support the residual value of leases covering an initial approximately 4.25 GW of IT load.[3]

The initial guarantees carry a cumulative payment cap of $105 billion. That figure is not a cash payment at signing, an investment in OpenAI, or a hardware purchase order. The guarantees generally become effective when the associated leases commence after ready-for-service conditions are met, with the first commencements expected in 2028.[3]

A covered payment exposure can arise if OpenAI defaults because of insolvency or fails to make required lease payments. NVIDIA would generally cover the difference between a guaranteed minimum lease value and the proceeds produced by reletting or selling the affected capacity. The agreements give NVIDIA remedies that can include assuming a lease, requiring a replacement lease, using a sale process, terminating a lease, or deferring remedies for up to one year while paying specified project costs.[3]

NVIDIA's obligations end no later than the twentieth anniversary of the relevant lease and can end earlier under conditions stated in the filing, including specified lease termination events or OpenAI meeting an agreed credit standard. OpenAI agreed to reimburse and indemnify NVIDIA for amounts NVIDIA actually pays under the guarantees.[3] NVIDIA said it would file the full agreements with its quarterly report for the quarter ended July 26, 2026.[3]

The parties announced a separate $1.5 billion NVIDIA investment in SB Energy, but did not disclose its form or other terms in the cited public documents.[4][5] That investment and the contingent $105 billion guarantee cap are different transactions and should not be added together as one capital payment. The lease support is also separate from NVIDIA and OpenAI's September 2025 letter of intent, which had contemplated an investment of up to $100 billion tied to at least 10 GW of NVIDIA systems.[13] The August 2026 agreements concern SB Energy leases and do not state that the earlier letter of intent was executed.[3][4]

## Power and transmission

The proposed campus requires generation and grid capacity beyond the initial phase. The March plan includes 9.2 GW of natural-gas generation within a broader 10 GW generation program.[1] None of that figure should be read as electricity already available to the campus. Power plants, fuel supply, interconnections, and related approvals remain separate parts of the development process.

AEP Ohio announced a planned $4.2 billion, 765 kV transmission build for the campus. It said SB Energy committed to pay for the project, power could begin flowing through the new facilities in 2029, and the plan remained subject to Ohio Power Siting Board approval and public review.[8] OpenAI's 2028 date for the first 800 MW is not necessarily inconsistent with AEP's 2029 transmission date because OpenAI says the first phase would rely mainly on existing AEP infrastructure.[5][8]

OpenAI and the project sponsors say the campus will pay for its own energy and infrastructure costs rather than transferring those costs to other electricity customers.[1][5] That is a project commitment made by the parties. Final rate treatment and transmission approvals remain matters for the relevant regulators.

## Permitting and environmental status

The Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council posted the PORTS Technology Campus to its FAST-41 dashboard on June 11, 2026. On August 17 the project was listed as `IN PROGRESS`, with an estimated environmental-review and authorization completion date of December 23, 2026. Zero of four tracked processes were complete. The US Army Corps of Engineers Regulatory program was listed as lead, with the US Fish and Wildlife Service also involved.[7]

FAST-41 status coordinates agency review and publishes a schedule. It does not itself approve a project, award federal funding, or create a presumption that permits will be issued.[7] The March groundbreaking and August commercial agreements therefore did not settle the project's environmental or construction approvals.

OpenAI explicitly states that development depends on necessary infrastructure, permits, environmental review, and financing.[5] It describes the planned cooling design as closed-loop and air-cooled, but says a quantitative estimate of water use will not be available until the design is final. No project-wide water-use figure was public by the evidence cutoff.[5]

The campus spans both remediated federal land and adjacent private land. It is therefore inaccurate to describe every project acre as a cleaned portion of the former enrichment plant. DOE cleanup work also continues elsewhere at the Portsmouth Site.[7][9][11]

## Employment and community commitments

Project sponsors have published changing employment forecasts. DOE's March announcement projected 10,000 construction jobs and more than 2,000 permanent jobs.[2] In August, OpenAI projected 35,000 construction jobs over a six-year build and 2,500 operating jobs.[5] These figures were estimates made at different stages and may use different scopes. They are not counts of jobs already created, and the sources do not reconcile the difference.

The August parties announced $80 million in community funds: $40 million previously committed by SB Energy and another $40 million from OpenAI.[4][5] OpenAI also announced up to $84 million in Codex credits for eligible Ohio postsecondary students during the 2026-27 academic year, described as $100 for approximately 844,000 people.[5] These are announced commitments and programs rather than evidence that every grant or credit had been distributed.

## Status and public debate

Independent reporting treated the campus as a project of national scale before the OpenAI lease was announced. The Associated Press covered the March groundbreaking, the 10 GW plan, and the reuse of land at the former uranium-enrichment site while describing the build in prospective terms.[10] Local reporting later documented the private-land expansion and unresolved site layout.[11]

After the August filing, Axios reported the signed tenant arrangement and guarantee cap and said the structure would likely revive debate about circular financing in the AI industry.[12] NVIDIA rejected that characterization, arguing that its support is limited to defined lease obligations and residual value and that defaulted capacity could be relet or sold.[6] The filing establishes the legal structure but cannot determine whether the economic risk will ultimately be small. That depends on construction, OpenAI's lease performance, demand for replacement capacity, and the proceeds available if a default occurs.[3]

As of August 17, 2026, the durable facts were the signed lease-support agreements, the OpenAI tenancy, the separate NVIDIA investment, and an active development and permitting process. The full 8 GW deployment, 10 GW generation build, job totals, and later-phase completion dates remained forward-looking.

## References

1. US Department of Commerce. *Commerce and Energy Departments Announce Partnership to Ensure Affordable Energy and Power America's AI Future*. March 20, 2026. https://www.commerce.gov/news/press-releases/2026/03/commerce-and-energy-departments-announce-partnership-ensure-affordable
2. US Department of Energy. *Partnership Ensures Affordable Energy, Powers AI Future at Portsmouth Site*. March 24, 2026. https://www.energy.gov/em/articles/partnership-ensures-affordable-energy-powers-ai-future-portsmouth-site
3. NVIDIA Corporation. *Current Report on Form 8-K*. August 17, 2026. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1045810/000104581026000069/nvda-20260817.htm
4. NVIDIA, OpenAI, and SB Energy. *NVIDIA Guarantees SB Energy's PORTS-Pike Technology Campus in Ohio to Exclusively Host NVIDIA AI Compute*, Exhibit 99.1. August 17, 2026. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1045810/000104581026000069/sbeoainvidia-portsrelease.htm
5. OpenAI. *OpenAI joins the PORTS-Pike project*. August 17, 2026. https://openai.com/index/openai-joins-ports-pike-project/
6. Jensen Huang. *Securing the Infrastructure of Intelligence*. NVIDIA Blog. August 17, 2026. https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/securing-the-infrastructure-of-intelligence/
7. Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council. *PORTS Technology Campus*. Posted June 11, 2026; accessed August 17, 2026. https://www.permits.performance.gov/permitting-project/fast-41-covered-projects/ports-technology-campus
8. AEP Ohio. *AEP Ohio Partners to Bring $4.2B in New Electric Infrastructure in Appalachian Ohio Without Raising Customer Rates*. March 20, 2026. https://www.aepohio.com/company/news/view?releaseID=10824
9. US Department of Energy. *Portsmouth Background* and *Portsmouth Site*. Accessed August 17, 2026. https://www.energy.gov/pppo/portsmouth-background and https://www.energy.gov/em/portsmouth
10. Associated Press. *Trump officials announce 10-gigawatt data center, gas plants for former Ohio uranium site*. March 20, 2026. https://apnews.com/article/ai-data-center-ohio-uranium-enrichment-4667fa1442ec1c652228337ab4eb68ee
11. WOUB. *A company's plan for a massive data center complex in Pike County includes private land as well*. June 15, 2026. https://woub.org/2026/06/15/company-plan-massive-data-center-complex-pike-county-includes-private-land/
12. Axios. *OpenAI, Nvidia sign massive Ohio data center deal*. August 17, 2026. https://www.axios.com/2026/08/17/openai-nvidia-ohio-data-center-sb-energy
13. NVIDIA. *OpenAI and NVIDIA Announce Strategic Partnership to Deploy 10 Gigawatts of NVIDIA Systems*. September 22, 2025. https://nvidianews.nvidia.com/news/openai-and-nvidia-announce-strategic-partnership-to-deploy-10gw-of-nvidia-systems