Century Aluminum sells Hawesville plant to TeraWulf affiliate for AI data center

Century Aluminum's divestiture of its idled Hawesville, Kentucky aluminum smelter to Justified DataPower LLC, an affiliate of TeraWulf Inc., marks a significant shift in asset utilization. The 750-acre brownfield site will be repurposed into a 480 MW data center campus catering to AI and high-performance computing. The transaction, valued at $200 million in cash plus a 6.8% non-dilutive minority equity stake in Raylan Data Holdings LLC, allows Century Aluminum to monetize a non-core asset while retaining a non-controlling interest in the project's future upside. Emirates Global Aluminium is also a partner in the project. This deal underscores the growing demand for data center infrastructure driven by the expansion of AI and high-performance computing applications. The conversion of an existing industrial site offers a potentially faster and more cost-effective route to deploying new data center capacity compared to greenfield development. The involvement of TeraWulf, a company focused on digital infrastructure, and the equity stake retained by Century Aluminum suggest a strategic alignment to capitalize on the burgeoning data center market.