Mary Tintes, Civic West Steering Committee member
Civic West hosting Fire Hall Chat on September 17 at 7 p.m. to discuss data center benefits and drawbacks with residents and Applied Digital representative
Applied Digital North Dakota (Oliver County third data center)
Applied Digital is expanding in North Dakota and eyeing Oliver County for a third data center. It is reported, as reported August 28, 2026.
How much power it needs, how much water it would use and who would use it have not been disclosed.
How to read this page. Every fact links to the source it rests on; a number in brackets is its place in the source list. A figure no source gives reads Not disclosed, and nothing is estimated. Where sources give different figures, each is shown with who gave it, and another source's figure never stands in for the record's own. Entries are added and never overwritten; corrections are listed under What happened.
What is known
Each figure as its source gave it. The number in brackets is its place in the source list.
- Land
- Not disclosed
- Power it would draw
- Not disclosed
- Water
- Not disclosed
- Who leads it
- Applied Digital
- as stated by the source [7]
- Who would use it
- Not disclosed
- Jobs once it runs
- Not disclosed
- Tax each year
- Not disclosed
Every field, with who said it and when (Researcher view)
Impact figures
| Field | Value | Who says so | Source | Last verified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| How much power it needs | Not disclosed | |||
| How much water it would use | Not disclosed | |||
| How loud it would be | Not disclosed | |||
| Jobs once it runs | Not disclosed | |||
| Tax it would pay each year | Not disclosed |
The record's fields
| Field | Value | Who says so | Source | Last verified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Who is building it | Applied Digital | as stated by the source | [7] inforum.com | September 25, 2026 |
| Who is constructing it | Not disclosed | |||
| How much land | Not disclosed | |||
| Where its power comes from | Not disclosed | |||
| Grid connection | Not disclosed | |||
| How it is cooled | Not disclosed |
The developer's figure is what the company said; what a permit allows is the ceiling a permit sets; measured means observed. Water is in gallons a day or a year, whichever the source stated; a tax claim given as a range shows both ends, each linked to the source that gave it.
Still not public, and where it would show up
The record adds each the day a source gives it. Why these documents.
- Water useA state water right filing or a water supply agreement.
- Who would use itA lease announcement or a tenant named in a filing.
- Power the campus would drawA utility or public service commission docket, an interconnection filing, or an air permit for an on site plant.
- Jobs and taxAn incentive agreement, a county's economic development filing or a fiscal note.
What happened
-
(source date; the content gives no date of its own)
Applied Digital signed a 2.4 billion dollar design and build agreement with Base Electron [3]
-
(source date; the content gives no date of its own)
Applied Digital facility in North Dakota is expected to be operational by late 2028 [3]
-
(source date; the content gives no date of its own)
Applied Digital ordered 1.2 gigawatts of industrial boiler fed steam turbines for a data center in North Dakota [3]
-
(source date; the content gives no date of its own)
Harwood city council approved the Applied Digital data center and signed a three billion dollar deal within 21 days of initial announcement [2]
-
(source date; the content gives no date of its own)
The city of Ellendale annexed Applied Digital's property in early 2025. [7]
-
(source date; the content gives no date of its own)
City of Ellendale annexed Applied Digital's property in early 2025 [4]
-
(source date; the content gives no date of its own)
Applied Digital data center expected to be operational in early 2027 [5]
-
· Status: rumored (source date; the content gives no date of its own)
Applied Digital is building 3 billion dollar data center on 160 acres near Harwood [5]
The full Applied Digital North Dakota (Oliver County third data center) timeline, in order
7 corrections to this record
Every correction, with its reason
-
· the status of a projects row
The stage was set by timeline entries that were returned to draft on 2026-09-17 (they had been published onto the record while it was still a draft skeleton). With no published entry behind it the record reads rumored until one is approved. The old and new text.
-
· the kind of source of a history entry
The source was labeled with the Google News search that found it; it now carries its outlet's tier (the record's rules of 2026-09-23). The link did not change. The day's label corrections.
-
· the kind of source of a history entry
The source was labeled with the Google News search that found it; it now carries its outlet's tier (the record's rules of 2026-09-23). The link did not change. The day's label corrections.
-
· the kind of source of a history entry
The source was labeled with the Google News search that found it; it now carries its outlet's tier (the record's rules of 2026-09-23). The link did not change. The day's label corrections.
-
· the draft of a status history row
Published on a project that was still a draft skeleton and still short of the record's skeleton minimum rule; returned to draft on 2026-09-17 pending the project meeting the rule or a person's approval. The old and new text.
-
· the draft of a status history row
Published on a project that was still a draft skeleton and still short of the record's skeleton minimum rule; returned to draft on 2026-09-17 pending the project meeting the rule or a person's approval. The old and new text.
-
· the draft of a status history row
Published on a project that was still a draft skeleton and still short of the record's skeleton minimum rule; returned to draft on 2026-09-17 pending the project meeting the rule or a person's approval. The old and new text.
Every correction on the record is on the corrections page.
What was said
Lead times for gas turbine orders extend to 2032
Rentech Boiler Systems can deliver a packaged boiler within a year
Every statement about data centers in North Dakota, by speaker
9 more statements on this page
company officials
Applied Digital held a town hall meeting on its Harwood data center in August 2025 after construction plans were finished
Dave Nehring, Applied Digital Director of Local & Regional Affairs
Applied Digital is projected to be the largest property taxpayer in North Dakota by 2028 or 2029, at more than $25 million a year
Don Flaherty
Ellendale Mayor predicted population growth of 400 to 600 people over the next five years
Ellendale Mayor Don Flaherty predicted the Applied Digital data center will bring 300 to 350 full time employees to the small town
Don Flaherty, Ellendale Mayor
Ellendale's taxable value at the end of 2025 was $3.5 million, expected to grow more than tenfold
Randy Christmann
Public service commission chair said agency could develop a decommissioning program for data centers modeled on coal mine reclamation and wind farm rules
Vern Thompson, Agriculture Commissioner candidate, declared data centers North Dakota's number one problem
Agriculture Commissioner candidate
Thompson proposed one year moratorium on data centers to allow ordinances to be developed
The site
Where in Oliver County is not in the public record. The pin marks the county seat, not a building, and the outline is the county.
Tap a pin for the data center, the parcel for its record
- This record: Proposed, ringed
- data center
- Dashed edge: the exact site is not in the public record
- Smaller pins: 1 other published record in North Dakota
Details
- this record's location, ringed
- parcel outline, from the county parcel record
- city limits, U.S. Census Bureau, on a town level record
- county boundary
The other pins are the published projects in the same state, each in its stage color. The imagery beneath is the USGS national orthoimagery, public domain, shown so the land around the site can be read.
- Where
- Harwood area, Oliver County, North Dakota
- How exactly it is located
- County level, the county seat
- The parcel
- No parcel outline in the public record
- Nearest homes
- Not computed for a record placed at a place center
- Nearest records
- Nearest records are not computed for a record placed at a county seat.
Questions about this project
4 questions answered from the record
Who is building Applied Digital North Dakota (Oliver County third data center)?
-
Applied Digital is the developer, source. No construction contractor is named on the record yet.
How much power and water does Applied Digital North Dakota (Oliver County third data center) say it needs?
-
Power: not disclosed by any source on file. Water: not disclosed by any source on file.
Where does Applied Digital North Dakota (Oliver County third data center) stand today?
-
It is reported, as reported August 28, 2026. The newest entry, reported September 11, 2026: Applied Digital signed a 2.4 billion dollar design and build agreement with Base Electron [3].
What has Harwood area or Oliver County decided about it?
-
No decision by Harwood area or Oliver County about data centers is on the record. The Oliver County page and the North Dakota scorecard list every rated row the day a person publishes one.
Sources
Reporting
- Applied Digital completes second building at North Dakota data center campus - Data Center Dynamics, Data Center Dynamics, July 2, 2026, trade press
- Proposed Harwood charter amendment looking to make industrial negotiations more transparent - The Mighty 790 KFGO, The Mighty 790 KFGO, September 10, 2026, local outlet
- AI data centers pivot to industrial boilers for power amid turbine delays - ET Datacenters, ET Datacenters, September 11, 2026, local outlet
- Officials tout population growth, larger tax base, other benefits of data centers in North Dakota - Jamestown Sun, Jamestown Sun, September 9, 2026, local outlet
- Data centers discussed at Harwood public forum - InForum, InForum, August 28, 2026, local outlet
- West Fargo residents to discuss data center development - InForum, InForum, September 14, 2026, local outlet
- Officials tout population growth, larger tax base, other benefits of data centers in North Dakota - InForum, InForum, September 9, 2026, local outlet
- Port: Data center company Applied Digital expects to be one of the largest taxpayers in North Dakota history - InForum, InForum, September 1, 2026, local outlet
- Applied Digital expands in North Dakota, eyes Oliver County for third data center - Valley News Live, Valley News Live, July 13, 2026, local outlet
- Inside the AI 'small city' data center rising from the plains - Grand Forks Herald, Grand Forks Herald, September 13, 2026, local outlet
10 sources on file.
Cite this record
Data Center Record, "Applied Digital North Dakota (Oliver County third data center)", https://datacenterrecord.org/projects/applied-digital-north-dakota-oliver-county-third-data-center-nd, last verified September 25, 2026.
Cite this page
Data Center Record, "Applied Digital North Dakota (Oliver County third data center)", https://datacenterrecord.org/projects/applied-digital-north-dakota-oliver-county-third-data-center-nd. Data: Data Center Record, datacenterrecord.org, CC BY 4.0.
The structured rows are CC BY 4.0. Link to this page; that is what turns a reuse into a citation. Prose stays under copyright.
For researchers
- Slug
- applied-digital-north-dakota-oliver-county-third-data-center-nd
- Status value
- rumored
- Stage
- Proposed
- Tier
- skeleton
- Tags
- skeleton
- Place id
- us/nd/oliver-county/harwood-area
- Coordinates
- 47.115, -101.30028
- Location precision
- county
- Location source
- County seat (Center), Wikidata, placed at county level
- Coordinate source
- wikidata county seat
- Location source number
- Not disclosed
- Location last verified
- September 16, 2026
- EPA registry id
- Not disclosed
- Use type values
- not_disclosed
- Tenancy value
- not_disclosed
- Cooling type value
- not_disclosed
- Capacity basis
- not_disclosed
- Water basis
- not_disclosed, gallons_per_day
- Acreage basis
- Not disclosed
- Interconnection value
- not_disclosed
- Capacity, if disclosed
- Not disclosed
- Rating of the county's rows
- Not disclosed
- Published
- 2026-09-05
- Last verified
- 2026-09-25