From aluminium smelter to data centre: How Hawesville’s redevelopment will benefit Century by boosting aluminium demand

Century Aluminum, on February 2, 2026, finalised the sale of its idle smelter site in Hawesville, Kentucky, to TeraWulf Inc., for transforming it into a digital infrastructure campus. This could be a strategic move by Century Aluminum to boost aluminium demand in the domestic market as data centres require the metal in cooling systems, heat exchangers, and infrastructure. At the same time, this redevelopment is expected to re-create jobs for skilled labourers, while also supporting high-performance computing and artificial intelligence workloads. This move overall aligns with Century’s strategic stance to redevelop the local economy. 

Altering the future of the Hawesville, Kentucky site

Century Aluminum, a producer and supplier of primary aluminium, earlier this month announced that it is selling its Hawesville, Kentucky site to TeraWulf Inc., to redevelop and transform the facility into a digital infrastructure campus. The sale indicates continued support for the high-performance computing and artificial intelligence workloads. The firm will hold a non-controlling minority equity stake, allowing it to stay involved with the project and its long-term benefits for the community.

This redevelopment is set to create a significant number of construction and permanent skilled jobs, boosting economic activity in the region. This move is part of the company’s larger strategy of investing in the US as the country’s largest primary aluminium producer. In addition to this, the firm also plans to expand the Mt. Holly smelter and develop a new 750 thousand tonne facility in Inola, Oklahoma, aiming to boost the domestic production and industrial capacity.

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What made Century redevelop the smelter site into a data centre?

The firm's aluminium smelter in Hawesville, back in June 2022, came to a halt mainly because of the global surge in electricity prices and energy crisis, especially after Ukraine's invasion by Russia. This led to triple the power cost, which was deemed to be triple the historic prices. Because of this, irrespective of the smelter's high operating performance and strategic importance, it had to discontinue.

However, during that time, the firm had anticipated that it would be up and running within the next nine to twelve months, hoping the energy price would return to its normal pricing. Still, the situation back then had a different plan altogether.

According to the CRU Group data, the power prices at the Hawesville facility soared to the upper-70 cent per megawatt-hour (MWh) when operations were halted. This spike was more than 75 per cent higher than the prices at Magnitude 7 Metals’ smelter in New Madrid, Mo., which also had to scale back its operations. While the firm’s facilities in Sebree, Ky. and Mt. Holly, S.C., faced high power costs in 2022, Hawesville was the only site that completely shut down, highlighting both its size and vulnerability to market-driven electricity prices.

As per the Data Centre Asia's report, a small data centre makes use of 10 kW to 50 kW of energy, a medium data centre uses 500 kW to 2 MW, and the AI-optimised rack can demand somewhere between 30 kW to over 100 kW, with averages exceeding 60 kW per rack. In comparison, aluminium smelters make use of much higher energy as it is an extremely energy-intensive process and consumes nearly 13,000–17,000 kWh of electricity to produce one tonne of aluminium. Therefore, Century, after selling its place to the data centre, shall aid in further boosting the domestic demand for aluminium. 

This poses a direct advantage because the reason behind the halt during 2022 was the rising energy cost. With data centres consuming less energy and keeping intact the demand for aluminium, this creates a win-win situation for the firm, the data centre and the larger community as a whole. The demand for aluminium in data centres is surging, driven by the need for cost-effective, lightweight and durable materials in rapidly expanding AI-enabled, high-power facilities. 

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Backlash for the redevelopment decision

The Executive Director of the Kentucky Conservation Committee, Lane Boldman, showed a clear disappointment towards the firm's decision to redevelop the site into a data centre in a recent interview. He pointed out the decline in aluminium manufacturing opportunities, emphasising that the new data centre “doesn’t replace jobs” in the area as effectively. Instead, it brings in a “different kind of job” that might not bolster the local economy in the way everyone hopes.

Additionally, he also said that data centres are part of a “gold rush” that often meets resistance from local communities because “they consume a lot of energy, water and other resources. These drive up the energy costs for local entities and don’t generate nearly as many jobs as something like a smelter would.”

This situation follows Kentucky's loss of Century’s new multibillion-dollar smelter project, which was awarded to Oklahoma and is projected to create around 1 thousand permanent jobs there. Boldman also stressed that Kentucky needs to accelerate its shift to renewable energy to attract clean manufacturing and avoid the fluctuating energy costs that led to the idling of the Hawesville smelter.

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Century ties with EGA for new smelter project

Century Aluminum collaborated with Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) and is now focused on building the first primary aluminium smelter since 1980 in Inola, Oklahoma. In this joint venture, EGA will hold a 60 per cent stake while Century takes 40 per cent. The new facility is expected to produce an impressive 750 thousand tonnes of aluminium each year, which would more than double the current production levels in the US. Additionally, with the development of the smelter, it is expected to create a thousand permanent jobs and 4 thousand construction jobs. The construction will start at the end of 2026.

After the smelter starts its operation, it is set to be the largest primary aluminium production facility in the US, marking the first new plant in nearly half a century. This comes at a crucial time when around 85 per cent of the aluminium that American industries rely on is imported. The new smelter is set to boost the domestic supply of this essential metal and create jobs in the American aluminium sector, helping to revive the country’s expertise and skills in aluminium production.

Century to restart Mt Holly smelter

As announced in August 2025, the firm will also be restarting the Mt Holly production in South Carolina, with a capacity of 50 thousand tonnes, which also been idled since 2015 with 75 per cent operating capacity. The restart focuses on boosting the domestic supply mainly because the aluminium imports are highly affected by the Section 232 tariffs. Additionally, the aluminium producing firm will be investing nearly USD 50 million for the effort, which shall aid in creating 100 jobs as well as increase the US aluminium production by 10 per cent. The plant will regain its full operations by June 30, 2026.

The smelter, which has been idle for 4 years, affecting the high production to come stagnant, can be fulfilled by the introduction of the new smelter with EGA, as well as the restart of the Mt Holly smelter. Moreover, this creates a direct advantage to the firm, more so because, although it will hold a very small stake in the data centre, the aluminium which would be supplied there would benefit the community, the domestic and boost demand for aluminium. 

To know more about the global primary aluminium industry 2026 outlook, book the report “Global ALuminium Industry Outlook 2026".