Applied Digital says in advanced talks regarding lease for Polaris Forge 2

The company said it believes Polaris Forge 1 has the potential to scale beyond 1 gigawatt starting in 2028 to 2030 when new transmission capabilities are expected to come online. Regarding Polaris Forge 2, near Harwood, North Dakota, where Applied Digital (APLD) is initially constructing 2 buildings totaling 300 megawatts of critical IT load, the company believes this campus can scale over time to 1 gigawatt as additional generation capacity is added to the grid. “We are already in early discussions with multiple parties to support that expansion,” Applied Digital said, adding that initial funding for Polaris Forge 2 has been secured by its financial partner, Macquarie Equipment Capital, and construction is underway. Applied expects the first building to start coming online in late 2026 and reach full capacity in 2027. The initial development cost is projected to be approximately $3B with the potential to increase as additional power becomes available. Applied said the company remains in finance discussions with an investment-grade hyperscaler regarding a lease for this campus and it has also entered negotiations with two additional hyperscalers for two new locations. Comments taken from the Q1 earnings conference call. Shares are up 24% in premarket trading.