BRIEFINGS · Capacity
Applied Digital says Polaris Forge 1 is now 250 MW operational
On 2 October 2026 Applied Digital reported Ready for Service on another 75 MW at Polaris Forge 1 in North Dakota, taking fully operational critical IT load to 250 MW. Full buildout remains contracted at 400 MW.
Applied Digital said on 2 October 2026 that the second phase of Building 2 at Polaris Forge 1 is Ready for Service. That adds 75 MW of critical IT load across three 25 MW data halls, completes Building 2 at 150 MW, and takes the Ellendale, North Dakota campus to 250 MW of fully operational critical IT load.
The company said the AI factory campus is fully leased and contracted to deliver 400 MW of critical IT load at full buildout. Earlier phases cited in the same release are a first 100 MW building and an initial 75 MW phase of Building 2. The release does not name the customer for this block, and it does not set out rent terms.
Why it sits on the AI map: this is disclosed megawatts reaching Ready for Service at a campus built for AI. It is operational capacity as the company states it, not a letter of intent. Customer names and lease dollars are not in this release, so the claim stops at the megawatts and the lease status the company stated.
Applied Digital moves from gray to green. The compute-and-power tracker adds a support and stays at risk, because 250 MW at one campus is not the gigawatts that row is about. Nothing turns red.
What would change the picture: naming the tenant; the next Ready for Service block toward 400 MW; or a construction or financing delay that pushes full buildout.
What this evidence does not establish
- Megawatt figures are company-stated critical IT load at Ready for Service, not third-party metered output.
- The customer is not named in the material reached.
- 400 MW is contracted full buildout, not yet fully operational.
- Fully leased is the company's wording, without rent terms in this release.
- The compute-and-power tracker gains a support and does not change status.
What to watch next
- The next Ready for Service milestone toward the 400 MW contracted buildout.
- Any naming of campus tenants or lease economics in filings.
- Construction or financing updates that change the full-buildout path.
Sources
- Applied Digital Brings an Additional 75 MW of AI Infrastructure Online at Polaris Forge 12 October 2026
Every figure above comes from these sources. Briefings are generated and published automatically from cited sources without individual human review before publication, with corrections noted by date. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell anything, and Acts of Evolution is not an investment adviser. See the disclosures.
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