Hut 8 signs $9.8 billion AI data center lease, fully commercializes Texas campus

Hut 8 signs $9.8 billion AI data center lease, fully commercializes Texas campus

July 20 (Reuters) - Hut 8 (HUT.O), opens new tab, a crypto-mining turned AI data center company, said on Monday it has signed a second 15-year lease worth $9.8 billion with an existing investment-grade customer, fully commercializing its 1-gigawatt Beacon Point campus in Texas. Shares of the company, which have nearly doubled this year, rose about 5% in premarket trading. Like several former bitcoin miners, Hut 8 has pivoted toward AI infrastructure, seeking to leverage power assets and data center expertise developed during the cryptocurrency boom to ⁠serve AI customers. Demand for compute infrastructure has accelerated since the launch of generative AI services, prompting technology companies to commit hundreds of billions of dollars toward data centers packed with advanced chips from Nvidia (NVDA.O), opens new tab and others. The rush has shifted competition beyond semiconductors to power, transmission access and construction-ready sites, making electricity availability one of the industry's biggest constraints. The new agreement covers 352 megawatts of IT capacity and doubles the unnamed tenant's total contracted footprint at the site to 704 MW. ⁠Hut 8 said the campus now has a base-term contract value of $19.6 billion over 15 years, rising to as much as $50.2 billion if renewal options are exercised. Total contracted AI data center capacity across Hut 8's portfolio has increased to 949 MW, backed ⁠by 1,330 MW of utility capacity, with aggregate base-term contract value reaching $26.6 billion, according to the company. All of the contracted capacity is leased to, or backed by, investment-grade counterparties. Hut ⁠8 said it redesigned the first data hall at Beacon Point around Nvidia's architecture, increasing capacity by 57% within the same land and utility footprint. ⁠The existing tenant subsequently doubled its contracted capacity at the campus. Hut 8 expects to begin delivering the first Phase 2 data hall in the second quarter of 2028. Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Jonathan Ananda Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

Hut 8 signs $9.8 billion AI data center lease in Texas

The new agreement is with an existing unnamed investment-grade tenant, bringing that customer's total contracted footprint at the campus to 704 MW -- twice its prior commitment. Campus-level base-term contract value reaches $19.6 billion, with renewal options raising that figure to as much as $50.2 billion, the company said. Across Hut 8's broader AI data center portfolio, total contracted capacity has risen to 949 MW, backed by 1,330 MW of utility capacity. Aggregate base-term contract value across the portfolio stands at $26.6 billion, with average annual net operating income of more than $1.75 billion. The company said all contracted capacity is leased to, or backstopped by, investment-grade counterparties.

Hut 8 signs $9.8 billion AI data centre lease, fully commercialises Texas campus

Hut 8 signed a second 15-year lease worth $9.8 billion. This agreement fully commercialises their 1-gigawatt Beacon Point campus in Texas. The deal doubles the unnamed tenant's total contracted footprint at the site. Hut 8's total contracted AI data centre capacity now stands at 949 MW. The company expects to deliver the first Phase 2 data hall in 2028. Hut 8, a crypto-mining turned AI data centre company, said on Monday it has signed a second 15-year lease worth $9.8 billion with an existing investment-grade customer, fully commercialising its 1-gigawatt Beacon Point campus in Texas. Shares of the company, which have nearly doubled this year, rose about 5% in premarket trading. Like several ⁠former bitcoin ⁠miners, Hut 8 has pivoted toward AI infrastructure, seeking to leverage power assets and data centres expertise developed during the cryptocurrency boom to serve AI customers. Demand for compute infrastructure has accelerated since the launch of generative AI services, prompting technology companies to commit hundreds of billions of dollars toward data centres packed with advanced chips from ⁠Nvidia and others. The rush has shifted competition beyond semiconductors to power, transmission access and construction-ready sites, making electricity availability one of ⁠the industry's biggest constraints. The new agreement covers 352 megawatts of IT capacity and doubles the unnamed tenant's total contracted footprint at the site to 704 MW. Hut 8 said the campus now has a base-term contract value of $19.6 billion over 15 years, rising to as much as $50.2 billion if renewal options are exercised. Total contracted AI data centre capacity across Hut 8's portfolio has increased to 949 MW, backed by 1,330 MW of utility capacity, with aggregate base-term contract value reaching $26.6 billion, according to the company. ⁠All of the contracted capacity is leased to, or backed by, investment-grade counterparties. Hut 8 said it redesigned the first data hall at Beacon Point around Nvidia's architecture, increasing capacity by 57% within the same land and utility footprint. The existing tenant subsequently doubled its contracted capacity at the campus. Hut 8 expects to begin delivering the first Phase 2 data hall in the second quarter of 2028.

Hut 8 Corp Commercializes Second Phase of Beacon Point Ai Data Center Campus with 352 Mw It Lease

Hut 8 Corp. issued a press release announcing the commercialization of the second phase of its one-gigawatt Beacon Point data center campus in Nueces County, Texas through a second 15-year lease for 352 megawatts of IT capacity. Hut 8 Corp. announced the commercialization of the second phase of its one-gigawatt Beacon Point data center campus in Nueces County, Texas through a second 15-year, $9,800 million lease for 352 megawatts (MW) of IT capacity. The tenant, the high-investment-grade company that executed the Phase 1 lease, has doubled its contracted IT capacity at the campus to 704 MW. The Transaction fully commercializes the Beacon Point campus against its 1,000 MW of utility capacity, secured under an interconnection agreement with AEP Texas for electric delivery service. Lease Structure: Triple net (NNN) lease executed on substantially the same terms as the Phase 1 lease. Tenant Profile: High-investment-grade company; the Phase 1 tenant. Compute Architecture: Hut 8 Corp. to deliver a second 352 MW AI factory designed to NVIDIA's DSX reference architecture for gigawatt-scale AI infrastructure supported by 500 MW of utility capacity. Base-Term Contract Value: $9,800 million over a 15-year base lease term, inclusive of a 3.0% annual base rent escalator; base-term contract value for the full 1,000 MW campus rises to $19,600 million. NOI Contribution: Expected cumulative NOI contribution of $9,800 million over the base term, or an average of $655 million per year upon stabilization; average annual NOI for the full 1,000 MW campus rises to $1,310 million. Upside Economics: Three 5-year renewal options per lease increase potential campus-level contract value to $50,200 million if all options are exercised. Delivery Timeline: Initial Phase 2 data hall delivery expected in Second Quarter 2028. The Transaction, Beacon Point becomes Hut 8 Corp's first fully commercialized AI data center campus. The Company secured the site, contracted the campus in full with investment-grade cash flows, financed Phase 1 with investment-grade debt, and commenced construction. The campus's full 1,000 MW of utility capacity is secured under an interconnection agreement with AEP Texas for electric delivery service, and no incremental capacity is required to serve the Phase 2 lease. Hut 8 Corp. will implement the partnership-driven model first implemented at River Bend and Beacon Point Phase 1 to deliver the site. Site preparation is underway, and long-lead critical equipment has been procured. Initial energization remains on schedule for First Quarter 2027. Contracted Capacity: Total contracted IT capacity across Hut 8 Corp's AI data center portfolio of 949 MW, comprising 704 MW at Beacon Point and 245 MW at River Bend. Contract Value and NOI Contribution: Cumulative base-term contract value across Hut 8 Corp's AI data center portfolio of $26,600 million, with expected average annual NOI of more than $1,750 million. Counterparty Credit: 100% of Hut 8 Corp's AI data center portfolio is leased to or backstopped by investment-grade counterparties.