The latest data center coming to New Albany is a nearly $250 million ‘sustainable’ project

NEW ALBANY, Ohio ( WCMH ) — The next in a string of data centers is on its way to New Albany, and this one is a nearly $250 million project using waterless cooling to stay sustainable.

Edged Energy is the latest company bringing a data center to New Albany, it announced Monday. The most recent project in its North American expansion of Edged Data Centers will be located at 6525 New Albany Road E., in the area being called the “Silicon Heartland.”

“Data centers are key assets to the New Albany community, allowing us to diversify the types of companies within our business portfolio,” Mayor Sloan Spalding said.

Referred to as Edged Columbus, it will be designed to support the demands of generative AI and advanced computing. The data center will provide 24 megawatts of critical capacity.

Touted as a sustainable data center, it will come equipped with a waterless cooling system that helps reduce energy. It is expected to save nearly 95 million gallons of water each year.

“With Edged Data Center’s impressive track record of reducing energy and water consumption in addition to investing in local schools, the company’s values closely align with our community pillars of environmental sustainability and lifelong learning,” Spalding said.

The cost to build Edged Columbus comes in at $246 million. Construction on the data center has already started and is expected to be finished in July 2025.

New Albany’s data center takeover

In 2022, Intel broke ground on its $20 billion semiconductor fabrication plant in New Albany. The project is scheduled to be finished in 2026 or 2027 before becoming operational by 2028. Shareholders recently sued Intel after it announced it would be cutting 15% of its workforce due to poor earnings in the second quarter, but the New Albany plant is not expected to be impacted.

New Albany has seen an influx in data centers since Intel started construction. The others include Microsoft, which has purchased over 700 acres in Licking County; Google, which recently announced an additional $2.3 billion investment in Ohio; and Vantage Data Centers, which is planning a $185 million project near the intersection of Beech Road and Jug Street.

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