# Two years to build an AI data centre, five for a power plant

AI data centres that came online in 2025 took a median 24 months from first land clearing to first operating building. For US power plants that came online then, the median is 31 months from the grid connection agreement and 61 months from the connection request. The two clocks do not start at the same point.

- **24** months: the median AI data centre, from first land clearing to first operating building (20 sites that came online in 2025)
- **31** months: the median power plant, from signed interconnection agreement to operation (US, plants online in 2025)
- **61** months: the median power plant, from interconnection request to operation (in 2008: 22)

> The two clocks do not start at the same point. The data centre's starts at the first bulldozer. The power plant's starts at a request filed years earlier.

## The clocks

### An AI data centre takes about two years to build

Epoch AI follows 93 large AI data centres from satellite images, permits and announcements. For each it records when land clearing began and when the first building started drawing power for servers.

Of the 53 sites built from scratch and already running, the median is 26 months. For the 20 that began operating in 2025 it is 24 months, and the middle half of the sites falls between 19 and 31 months; the fastest of them, Colossus 2, took 7.7 months, the slowest, AWS Berwick, 50 months.

Colossus 2 was built next to an existing building; Epoch notes a battery facility at the building and gas turbines at a Duke facility nearby in Mississippi. The slowest of all 53, Microsoft SAT40, took 65 months (started in 2018).

### From the interconnection agreement, a power plant needs a median of 31 months

Berkeley Lab, a US Department of Energy national laboratory, tracks the interconnection queues of American power plants. The median from signed interconnection agreement to operation was 31 months for plants that came online in 2025, in a sample covering 1,492 projects across all years, 142 of them from 2025.

The report attributes the length of this stage largely to things outside the interconnection process: procurement and the contract to sell the power, permitting, and the completion of transmission lines.

### Before the agreement, a request waits a median of 45 months

For agreements signed in 2025, the median from filing the request to signing the agreement was 45 months. The sample covers 4,929 requests across all years, 519 with an agreement in 2025. The report notes that agreement dates for 2023–2025 are missing for several regions and that the sample comes largely from ERCOT, where durations are typically shorter. From request to operation the median is 61 months for plants that came online in 2025 (3,310 projects across all years, 296 from 2025), against 36 in 2015 and 22 in 2008: 2.8 times as long as in 2008.

The three medians come from different samples and do not form a single timeline. Of the requests filed in 2000–2020, only 19% (13% of capacity) were operating by the end of 2025.

### The missing clock: the one before the bulldozer

The Berkeley Lab report covers only the connection of power plants to the transmission grid, not distribution and not consumers. Epoch starts measuring at land clearing. For the period between the decision to build a data centre, its request for power and the first bulldozer, no comparable public measurement exists.

That does not mean a data centre waits five years for the grid. It means the part of its clock that comes before the bulldozer does not show in these data.

## A data centre and a power plant requested on the same day

Choose a data centre. The page calculates when a power plant would have started up if its interconnection request had been filed on the day of the first land clearing and it had taken the 2025 median: 61 months.

A calculation by this page, not a claim about any one centre: a data centre can use plants requested earlier, or its own generation. Epoch notes gas turbines installed near the Colossus 2 and Meta Prometheus sites.

## Power plants take longer and longer from request to operation

From request to operation the median rose from 22 months in 2008 to 36 in 2015 and 61 in 2025, with a slight decline from 2024 according to the report. Only 19% of the requests filed in 2000–2020 were operating by the end of 2025.

The bigger the plant, the longer it takes: for plants that began operating from 2010 onwards, the median from request to operation is 20 months under 5 MW and exceeds four years from 100 MW upwards. The first operating building of an AI data centre has a median of 78 MW of IT power, between 5 and 398.

## All 67 sites already operating

Every data centre in Epoch's database whose first operating building has a date up to 2 October 2026, except the four that already appear as operating in their first record. The 53 marked “yes” count towards the medians; 14 are conversions, expansions or have a first record that is not the start of ground work, and are only listed. Power is the IT power of the first operating building, in MW.

| Data centre | Country | Land clearing | First building operating | Months | MW | How the operating date is known | Counts in median |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Microsoft Project Osmium | United States | 18 Dec 2018 | 1 Jan 2021 | 24.5 | 48 | estimated from images | yes |
| Google Papillion | United States | 4 Mar 2020 | 23 Jan 2023 | 34.7 | 79 | estimated from images | yes |
| Microsoft Goodyear | United States | 21 Jun 2021 | 24 Apr 2023 | 22.1 | 40 | estimated from images | yes |
| Meta-QTS Hillsboro 2 | United States | 1 Apr 2021 | 2 Aug 2023 | 28.0 | 45 | estimated from images | yes |
| Google Lancaster | United States | 1 Oct 2021 | 1 Jan 2024 | 27.0 | 68 | estimated from images | yes |
| QTS Richmond 1 | United States | 1 Oct 2023 | 29 Jan 2024 | 3.9 | 47 | estimated from images | no: retrofit |
| CoreWeave Chester VA | United States | 18 Sep 2023 | 31 Jan 2024 | 4.4 | 18 | estimated from images | no: conversion |
| Google Columbus | United States | 1 Oct 2021 | 1 Apr 2024 | 30.0 | 65 | estimated from images | yes |
| Google Omaha | United States | 25 Nov 2021 | 8 Apr 2024 | 28.4 | 79 | estimated from images | yes |
| Google Bristow | United States | 1 Jul 2021 | 29 Apr 2024 | 33.9 | 87 | estimated from images | yes |
| Microsoft SAT40 | United States | 28 Dec 2018 | 24 May 2024 | 64.9 | 47 | estimated from images | yes |
| Microsoft SAT14 | United States | 18 Feb 2022 | 1 Jul 2024 | 28.4 | 19 | estimated from images | no: first record is not the start of ground work |
| Colossus 1 | United States | 24 Apr 2024 | 11 Aug 2024 | 3.6 | 35 | estimated from images | no: conversion |
| STACK Infrastructure NVA02 | United States | 19 Oct 2019 | 1 Oct 2024 | 59.4 | 85 | estimated from images | yes |
| Google Council Bluffs (East) | United States | 6 Sep 2022 | 19 Nov 2024 | 26.4 | 79 | estimated from images | yes |
| AWS New Albany | United States | 1 Jul 2022 | 1 Dec 2024 | 29.0 | 113 | estimated from images | yes |
| DayOne Nusajaya | Malaysia | 1 Oct 2023 | 31 Dec 2024 | 15.0 | 50 | estimated from images | no: first record is not the start of ground work |
| Huawei Wuhu | China | 1 Jan 2023 | 1 Jan 2025 | 24.0 | 45 | estimated from images | yes |
| QTS Richmond 2 | United States | 1 Apr 2022 | 4 Feb 2025 | 34.2 | 72 | estimated from images | yes |
| xAI QTS Atlanta | United States | 23 Jan 2024 | 20 Feb 2025 | 12.9 | 17 | estimated from images | no: first record is not the start of ground work |
| Google The Dalles | United States | 21 May 2023 | 7 Mar 2025 | 21.6 | 77 | estimated from images | yes |
| Oracle Batam | Indonesia | 1 Jul 2022 | 15 May 2025 | 34.5 | 33 | anchored in an announcement | yes |
| CoreWeave Denton TX | United States | 1 Nov 2024 | 31 May 2025 | 6.9 | 8 | estimated from images | no: conversion |
| Huawei Horinger | China | 8 Oct 2023 | 1 Jun 2025 | 19.8 | 36 | estimated from images | yes |
| Amazon Madison Mega Site | United States | 2 Oct 2023 | 23 Jun 2025 | 20.7 | 284 | estimated from images | yes |
| Anthropic-Amazon New Carlisle | United States | 9 Feb 2024 | 23 Jun 2025 | 16.4 | 398 | estimated from images | yes |
| Google Mesa | United States | 1 Jul 2023 | 1 Jul 2025 | 24.0 | 90 | estimated from images | yes |
| VNET Bayin Ulanqab | China | 15 Mar 2024 | 1 Jul 2025 | 15.5 | 38 | estimated from images | yes |
| CoreWeave Norway | Norway | 23 Jan 2024 | 27 Jul 2025 | 18.1 | 42 | estimated from images | no: first record is not the start of ground work |
| Google Red Oak | United States | 30 Apr 2023 | 25 Aug 2025 | 27.9 | 77 | estimated from images | yes |
| Google Waltham Cross | United Kingdom | 1 Jan 2024 | 1 Sep 2025 | 20.0 | 88 | anchored in an announcement | yes |
| AWS Berwick | United States | 1 Jul 2021 | 9 Sep 2025 | 50.3 | 47 | estimated from images | yes |
| Alibaba Zhangbei | China | 23 Jul 2024 | 17 Sep 2025 | 13.8 | 85 | estimated from images | no: first record is not the start of ground work |
| OpenAI Stargate Abilene | United States | 31 May 2024 | 26 Sep 2025 | 15.9 | 105 | anchored in an announcement | yes |
| Core42 Lake Mariner | United States | 1 Oct 2024 | 1 Oct 2025 | 12.0 | 16 | anchored in an announcement | yes |
| Meta Prometheus | United States | 14 Apr 2022 | 14 Oct 2025 | 42.0 | 76 | estimated from images | yes |
| Microsoft Fairwater Atlanta | United States | 9 Apr 2023 | 14 Oct 2025 | 30.2 | 321 | anchored in an announcement | yes |
| Colossus 2 | United States | 28 Feb 2025 | 19 Oct 2025 | 7.7 | 239 | anchored in an announcement | yes |
| CoreWeave Ellendale ND | United States | 31 Oct 2023 | 27 Oct 2025 | 23.9 | 50 | anchored in an announcement | yes |
| Meta Eagle Mountain | United States | 1 Oct 2023 | 7 Dec 2025 | 26.2 | 133 | estimated from images | yes |
| Meta Temple | United States | 1 Apr 2022 | 9 Dec 2025 | 44.3 | 152 | estimated from images | yes |
| DayOne Kempas | Malaysia | 1 Jul 2024 | 22 Jan 2026 | 18.7 | 80 | anchored in an announcement | yes |
| QTS Richmond 3 | United States | 1 Apr 2024 | 13 Feb 2026 | 22.4 | 48 | estimated from images | yes |
| Vantage TX1 | United States | 15 Dec 2023 | 15 Feb 2026 | 26.1 | 32 | estimated from images | yes |
| CoreWeave Dalton 1 & 2 | United States | 3 Jun 2024 | 20 Feb 2026 | 20.6 | 28 | estimated from images | no: conversion |
| Meta Los Lunas | United States | 24 Jul 2024 | 1 Mar 2026 | 19.2 | 87 | estimated from images | yes |
| Meta Huntsville | United States | 13 Dec 2021 | 4 Mar 2026 | 50.7 | 78 | estimated from images | yes |
| CoreWeave Marble NC | United States | 25 Jun 2024 | 13 Mar 2026 | 20.6 | 36 | estimated from images | no: conversion |
| Start Campus Sines Data Campus | Portugal | 1 Jan 2022 | 3 Apr 2026 | 51.0 | 33 | anchored in an announcement | yes |
| Microsoft-Nebius New Jersey | United States | 31 May 2024 | 15 Apr 2026 | 22.5 | 50 | estimated from images | yes |
| Microsoft Fairwater Wisconsin | United States | 14 Jul 2023 | 16 Apr 2026 | 33.1 | 369 | anchored in an announcement | yes |
| Google Midlothian | United States | 28 Nov 2023 | 19 Apr 2026 | 28.7 | 69 | estimated from images | yes |
| Nscale Keflavik | Iceland | 8 Jul 2022 | 23 Apr 2026 | 45.5 | 5 | estimated from images | yes |
| Stream Phoenix | United States | 30 Oct 2022 | 1 May 2026 | 42.0 | 64 | estimated from images | no: conversion |
| Google Lincoln | United States | 1 Jul 2023 | 12 May 2026 | 34.4 | 141 | estimated from images | yes |
| Amazon Ridgeland | United States | 24 Feb 2024 | 15 May 2026 | 26.6 | 228 | estimated from images | yes |
| Anthropic Lake Mariner | United States | 11 Jun 2025 | 31 May 2026 | 11.6 | 42 | estimated from images | yes |
| Meta Kuna | United States | 3 Oct 2022 | 1 Jun 2026 | 43.9 | 152 | estimated from images | yes |
| Meta Jeffersonville | United States | 1 Feb 2024 | 4 Jun 2026 | 28.1 | 178 | estimated from images | yes |
| Google Arcola | United States | 1 Oct 2024 | 16 Jun 2026 | 20.5 | 77 | estimated from images | yes |
| Meta Montgomery | United States | 1 Mar 2025 | 18 Jun 2026 | 15.6 | 153 | estimated from images | yes |
| Meta Rosemount | United States | 30 May 2024 | 19 Jun 2026 | 24.6 | 178 | estimated from images | yes |
| Meta Cheyenne | United States | 15 May 2024 | 25 Jul 2026 | 26.3 | 152 | estimated from images | yes |
| Meta Sarpy | United States | 1 Aug 2024 | 2 Aug 2026 | 24.0 | 80 | estimated from images | yes |
| Meta Aiken | United States | 30 May 2024 | 7 Aug 2026 | 26.3 | 69 | estimated from images | yes |
| Southgate Melbourne | Australia | 26 Dec 2022 | 9 Aug 2026 | 43.4 | 41 | estimated from images | no: first record is not the start of ground work |
| Coreweave Helios | United States | 31 May 2025 | 30 Aug 2026 | 15.0 | 132 | estimated from images | no: expansion of an existing site |

## How the two clocks were calculated

**The data-centre clock.** For each site in Epoch's database: months from the first record (land clearing, grading, the start of ground work) to the first record with IT power above zero. Dates after 2 October 2026 are Epoch forecasts and are left out. Epoch says its dates are estimates from satellite images, permits and announcements; many first-power dates are inferred (for example "five months after the roof").

**What counts in the median.** 53 sites built from scratch. 14 are left out: conversions of existing buildings, and sites whose first record is not the start of ground work. Another 20 sites have only a future date, and 4 already appear as operating in their first record.

**The 2025 cohort.** Berkeley Lab groups plants by the year they began operating. We do the same: the centres whose first building began operating in 2025 (20 sites). A site started recently and still under construction cannot be counted, and looking at all recent starts would leave out the slow ones.

**Anchored and estimated dates.** We read Epoch's notes for every site. For 7 of the 20 in 2025, the first-power date rests on a company announcement, a public document or an authority (for example Microsoft, Oracle, Crusoe, TeraWulf, Google, Applied Digital); Epoch picks the date closest to the announcement that its images support, so for Abilene and Colossus 2 the date is "around" the announcement, not the announced one, and for Ellendale the milestone is "ready for service". For the other 13, Epoch infers it from images. The classification is ours.

**The power-plant clock.** The numbers are those printed in the Berkeley Lab report (2026 edition, data to the end of 2025): medians by the year a plant began operating (request to operation, agreement to operation) or the year the agreement was signed (request to agreement). The report covers only the connection of generators to the transmission grid, not distribution and not consumers. It collects queues from 7 regional market operators and 50 other balancing areas; the duration samples are smaller (3,310 projects request to operation, 1,492 agreement to operation, 4,929 requests request to agreement). The 2024–2025 request-to-agreement sample comes largely from ERCOT, where durations are typically shorter, and agreement dates for 2023–2025 are missing for several regions, the report notes.

**What is not compared.** A data centre and a power plant are different objects, and their clocks start at different points: the bulldozer, and the interconnection request. The comparison sets side by side periods of the same kind, from a physical or contractual start to operation, and does not say how a data centre gets its power.

| Year of first operation | Sites | Median, months | Anchored in an announcement (sites) | Estimated from images (sites) |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2021 | 1 | 24.5 | – | 24.5 (1) |
| 2023 | 3 | 28.0 | – | 28.0 (3) |
| 2024 | 8 | 29.5 | – | 29.5 (8) |
| 2025 | 20 | 24.0 | 20.0 (7) | 24.0 (13) |
| 2026, to 2 Oct | 21 | 26.3 | 33.1 (3) | 26.2 (18) |

The 2025 cohort median is 24.0 months across all 20, 20.0 for the 7 with a date anchored in an announcement and 24.0 for the 13 with a date estimated from images. The cohorts before 2025 are small (2021: 1, 2023: 3, 2024: 8), and 2026 is a year in progress.

## Sources

- [Data on AI data centers (Frontier Data Centers hub)](https://epoch.ai/data/ai-data-centers), Epoch AI: Epoch AI's open database (CC BY) of the largest AI data centres: for each, dates from land clearing to operating buildings, estimated from satellite images, permits and announcements. The data-centre clock comes from here.
- [Queued Up: 2026 Edition. Characteristics of Power Plants Seeking Transmission Interconnection as of the End of 2025](https://eta-publications.lbl.gov/sites/default/files/2026-06/queued_up_2026_edition.pdf), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory: The US Department of Energy national laboratory's report on power-plant interconnection queues, from data on 7 regional market operators and 50 other balancing areas. The power-plant clock comes from here: pages 4 (summary), 43 (request to agreement), 48 (agreement to operation), 51 (request to operation), 54 (by size).

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Two clocks · bilingual edition · updated 2 October 2026 · An editorial work by Marius Comper. [mariuscomper.uk](https://mariuscomper.uk/en/).