The Pyramid is being acquired by Bitzero, which will turn it into a Zero Carbon Displacement data center, whose excess heat is used to keep a greenhouse warm all year long.
The Pyramid is being acquired by Bitzero, which will turn it into a Zero Carbon Displacement data center, whose excess heat is used to keep a greenhouse warm all year long.
Mike Jensen | North Dakota Tourism/Sidney Herald
Gov. Doug Burgum listens as Kevin O'Leary talks about bitcoin mining and North Dakota in this file 2022 photo.
An abandoned missile site in North Dakota is getting a new lease on life, one that will showcase how data centers can be constructed with reduced carbon emissions and the energy transition at the forefront.
Cavalier County Job Development Authority has executed binding agreements with Bitzero to acquire and redevelop the Stanley R. Mickelsen Safeguard Complex in Nekoma, North Dakota. Bitzero will be turning the facility into a highly secure data center for high-performance computing and data processing, one with a Zero Carbon Displacement energy strategy. The latter was a key factor win CCJDA’s decision to accept the plan.
A Zero Carbon Displacement energy strategy means that the facility’s carbon footprint will be offset with renewable energy sources. Waste heat at the site will be captured and used to heat an on-site greenhouse.
The company also plans an interpretive center, and additional community engagement on site. The total investment is estimated by Bitzero to be $500 million. The site is expected to employ 30 to 50 people once operational.
“We in Cavalier County have taken great efforts to preserve and maintain this site with clear intentions: to use the infrastructure along with the county’s abundant resources to create jobs and to restore dignity to the history here,” said Carol Goodman, a consultant to the CCJDA for the Stanley R. Mickelsen site redevelopment. “We have had bids and interest in the site in the past, but none came with a track record and a strategy that we could trust to meet our objectives. We look forward to supporting Bitzero and watching our collective ambitions become a reality.”
The historic site that Bitzero is acquiring is more commonly referred to in North Dakota as The Pyramid. It is a legacy of the Cold War, built as part of the U.S. nuclear defense system at the time.
More than 1,000 workers came to North Dakota in the 1970s to build the facility, including the distinctive concrete pyramid with 3-foot-thick walls. The site became operational in April 1975, but Congress shuttered it after just eight months of operation. CCJDA became the pyramid’s owner in 2017.
“The history of this site and the integrity of the community and leadership we have met here in Cavalier County are a marvel,” Bitzero Akbar Shamji said. “The Pyramid when correctly understood is a monument to peace. The extraordinary capacity of the site in its first incarnation was a direct catalyst to the peace treaties of 1975 and the end of the Cold War. In its new incarnation the site will reappear again as a beacon for change in the now biggest challenge we face as society, climate change. The use of existing unutilized resources and ZCD energy at this site will guide the global data center industry and its stakeholders. Be they developers, users or shareholders, The Pyramid Data Centre will demonstrate for all concerned the increased functionality, lower cost of capital and higher profitability from harnessing natural energy and working in tandem with local communities and leading minds when approaching data services.”
Gov. Doug Burgum thanked Shamji for making such a significant investment in North Dakota.
“This is fantastic news for Cavalier County and our entire state, putting this iconic pyramid on the prairie to innovative use and further solidifying North Dakota’s status as a global hub for data center development,” Burgum said. “We are deeply grateful for Bitzero’s significant investment in our state and for the tireless efforts of the North Dakota Department of Commerce and Cavalier County Job Development Authority to secure a viable tenant and seize the potential of this historic structure. This important piece of history will be restored and become a beacon for North Dakota innovation to the rest of the world.”
Director of Commerce’s Economic Development and Finance Division Josh Teigen, meanwhile, said it is yet another instance where North Dakota is leading the world.
“The announcement from Bitzero to purchase ‘The Pyramid’ is a great leap forward for North Dakota,” said Josh Teigen, director of Commerce’s Economic Development and Finance Division. “North Dakota leads the world in a variety of verticals whether it is our robust tech sector, autonomous farming or unmanned aircraft systems, and expanding highly secure data center infrastructure in our state will help support all industries and diversify our economy. Bitzero’s announcement also brings together two pillars of our economy, energy and agriculture, as all waste heat from the data center will be used in an on-site greenhouse to enable North Dakota to grow crops year-round and help feed the world.”
It’s not the first major announcement from Bitzero this year. In June, Shamji, standing alongside Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary, announced that his company was selecting North Dakota as a hub for all of its North American operations, including its headquarters.
In addition to building out 200 MW of data centers in the next two to three years, Shamji said they also plan a joint venture to develop a graphene battery assembly and distribution hub. Graphene is a component of lignite, a resource North Dakota has in abundance.
Bitzero has also leased space in Bismarck and Fargo for administrative operations, according to a report in the Bismarck Tribune.
