Lambda plans $33.1 billion data centre campus on Alabama's Red Clay site

Lambda announced on 4 November 2026 that it plans to build a data centre campus in Lowndes County, Alabama, on the proposed Red Clay Technology Center Campus site, which Cloverleaf Infrastructure has readied for development. Lambda estimates the investment at $33.1 billion. In the announcement, Cloverleaf co-founder and chief executive David Berry says Lambda will be the site's end user.

Lambda says Alabama Power will supply the campus, pending regulatory approval. It says it will cover all costs of the electricity supply and grid work serving the site, backed by upfront financial pledges that hold even if plans change, so Alabama Power's current customers do not carry them. Lambda expects construction to begin in Q1 2027 and to last up to five years. It places the campus near U.S. Highway 80 and Alabama Highway 21 and says design details will be settled as planning moves on.

Capacity figures for the site come from Cloverleaf's papers for the Lowndes County Commission, issued before Lambda's announcement. A briefing packet dated 5 October 2026 sets out a 1,000 MW base case, with a projected initial investment of $33.1 billion and room to grow to 1,500 MW, and limits the site to 2,200 acres, with any larger site needing the county's consent. It proposes construction from Q1 2027, first operations in the fourth quarter of 2028 and completion of the 1,000 MW build in the fourth quarter of 2029. A handout for the Commission's meeting on 9 October 2026 says commercial terms with the utility have been agreed but still need the Alabama Public Service Commission's approval, and that a nationally known end user will build, own and run the data centre.

Cloverleaf's update of 27 May 2026 says the project asked for as much as 1,500 MW to be delivered to the site, and that the capacity available depends on Alabama Power's studies and, in the end, a Contract for Electric Service, which the two sides were then discussing.

Lambda says the campus will use closed-loop cooling, which it says cuts water use sharply compared with traditional data centre cooling, and that it plans to work with N-Drip to help local farmers save water, aiming to return at least the volume of water the campus uses. Cloverleaf's May update says the project asked for as much as 100,000 gallons a day, which it calls the ceiling at full build-out, with average daily use expected to be lower, and that a water service agreement with Pintlala Water was in progress.

Lambda says building the campus will bring over 1,000 construction jobs during development and that the campus will then sustain over 225 full-time positions. With Cloverleaf, it is putting $10 million into the Central Alabama Community Foundation under a Community Benefits Agreement. Lambda cites Cloverleaf's projection that local tax revenue will exceed $2.8 billion through 2049, with more than $1.6 billion of it going to Lowndes County Public Schools. It lists DarkSky lighting, setbacks, buffers and noise reduction among the design features.