Submer is set to build its first data center in the US on the site of a former steel mill in Kentucky.. The cooling vendor turned data center operator is proposing a data center with up to 2GW of capacity at the former AK Steel mill in Russell, a city in eastern Kentucky near the state border with West Virginia..
If granted planning permission, it will spend up to $12 billion on the project, which will be built and operated by its new AI data center subsidiary, Rubix.. According to a report in the Kentucky Lantern, Rubix has told officials in Russell that it wants to construct eight buildings on the site, and that the data center would use 55 million gallons of water a year..
It said the facility would create 200 full-time jobs, and deliver millions of dollars in tax revenue for Russell.. Rubix, which is working with Missouri-based Gateway City Consulting on its planning application, has yet to confirm how it will obtain the power it needs for the data center..
The steelworks opened in 1923, cycling through several owners before eventually becoming part of AK Steel, which began winding down operations in 2015. The buildings on the site have since been demolished.. Barcelona-based Submer launched Rubix in June, and claims the firm has a powered land bank of 8GW at its disposal in several markets around the world.
It revealed details of its first site, a €1 billion ($1.14bn) data center at a former chemical plant outside Barcelona, earlier this month.. Kentucky is home to several large data center developments, notably the 401MW TeraWulf site being planned in Hawesville. This will eventually be leased to AI lab Anthropic..
08 May 2026. 03 Jul 2026
