The Pulse
Applied Digital Brings 75 MW Online at Polaris Forge 1
Applied Digital says three new data halls at its Polaris Forge 1 campus in Ellendale, North Dakota, are ready for service, adding 75 MW of critical IT load. The milestone brings the campus’s operational capacity to 250 MW toward 400 MW cont
AI.info Team · Written with AI ·
Power is only the starting point
Applied Digital says securing power does not by itself create usable computing capacity. On October 2, the company announced a concrete test of that distinction: three additional data halls at its Polaris Forge 1 campus in Ellendale, North Dakota, had reached “Ready for Service,” adding 75 megawatts of critical IT load. Applied Digital describes itself as a U.S.-based designer, developer, owner and operator of large-scale, purpose-built data centers engineered for high-performance computing workloads, including artificial intelligence, machine learning and other accelerated-compute applications.
The new phase brings the campus’s operational critical IT load to 250 MW, according to the company.
“Bringing another 75 MW of AI infrastructure online at Polaris Forge 1 further demonstrates our ability to turn large-scale power into operational AI infrastructure,” said Wes Cummins, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Applied Digital. “Securing power is only the starting point. The real work is designing, building, commissioning, and operating the infrastructure that transforms those megawatts into usable capacity for customers. That is the capability we continue to scale across our platform.”
Three halls complete Building 2
The newly delivered capacity is divided among three 25 MW data halls and completes Building 2’s full 150 MW of critical IT load. The building reached that total in two phases: an initial 75 MW delivered earlier, followed by the 75 MW announced October 2.
Building 2 joins the campus’s first 100 MW building. Applied Digital says Polaris Forge 1 is fully leased and contracted to provide 400 MW of critical IT load at full buildout. The latest milestone leaves the campus 150 MW short of that contracted total; the company did not give a schedule for the remaining capacity in its announcement.
Operational capacity, not a new lease
The announcement concerns infrastructure that is ready to serve customers, not a newly disclosed customer agreement. Applied Digital did not identify the customer or say how the 75 MW will be taken up in the release. Its stated measure is critical IT load—the capacity assigned to information-technology equipment—rather than the campus’s total power supply.
The distinction matters to the company’s own account of the work. Cummins described design, construction, commissioning and operations as the steps that turn large-scale power into capacity customers can use.
250 MW now operational in Ellendale
Applied Digital says it has operated in Ellendale since 2021. Polaris Forge 1’s 250 MW operational total combines the first 100 MW building with both phases of Building 2, while its 400 MW figure describes the campus’s contracted capacity at full buildout.
That leaves execution—not a newly announced power target—as the immediate measure in this update. The release confirms the second Building 2 phase is ready for service; it does not provide a completion date for the remaining contracted capacity.