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Data center campus · Near Center and Hannover, Oliver County (reported as about 1 mile east of Hannover and 5 miles north of Center, near state Highways 25 and 31), Oliver County, North Dakota

Applied Digital Polaris Forge 3 campus, Oliver County

Under construction as of Oct. 7, 2026

Applied Digital's third North Dakota AI campus, a 300 MW IT-load facility on more than 600 acres near Center, permitted by the Oliver County Commission 2-1 in July 2026 after the county lifted a data center moratorium. Also known as: APLD BIS-01.

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Power430MW reported · record
Site600acres
IT load300MW

Who is behind it

ProjectApplied Digital Polaris Forge 3 campus, Oliver CountyAlso: APLD BIS-01
Developer and teamApplied Digital (through APLD BIS-01, LLC)
End userUnnamed U.S. high-investment-grade hyperscaler (the same tenant as Applied Digital's Delta Forge 1 in the South)

The record, newest first

  1. Applied Digital reported the campus under construction and named it as being in Center, Oliver County. (Applied Digital Corporation (SEC Form 8-K, Exhibit 99.1), Oct. 7, 2026; Applied Digital Corporation (SEC Form 10-Q), Oct. 7, 2026)

  2. Applied Digital signed a 15-year power purchase agreement with Base Electron for a planned 1,200 MW gas plant in Center to supply Polaris Forge 3; Base Electron can end it if financing is not closed by March 31, 2027. (Applied Digital Corporation (SEC Form 10-Q), Oct. 7, 2026)

  3. County commissioners signed a road use and operations agreement with APLD BIS-01 barring wastewater discharge to the aquifer and requiring trucked-in cooling fill water. (KFYR-TV / Valley News Live, July 13, 2026)

  4. The Oliver County Commission approved a building permit 2-1, with conditions covering generator testing hours, construction hours near churches, weeds, reimbursement of county legal costs and the cost of a deputy; the Center Republican reported the land was rezoned from agricultural to industrial with the permit. (Center Republican (Central Nordak Publishing), July 16, 2026)

  5. Montana-Dakota Utilities announced an electric service agreement to serve Polaris Forge 3 near Center at up to 430 MW, pending ND PSC approval. (MDU Resources Group / Montana-Dakota Utilities, June 22, 2026)

  6. Applied Digital announced a roughly 15-year, $7.5 billion lease for 300 MW of IT load at Polaris Forge 3, a campus of more than 600 acres with about 430 MW of grid power. (Applied Digital Corporation, May 20, 2026)

  7. An Applied Digital executive spoke to the Minot chamber's energy committee as the company sought rezoning near Center; the company said it hoped to break ground that summer and finish in 18 to 24 months, with about 200 permanent jobs. (KFYR-TV, May 5, 2026; KFYR-TV, May 4, 2026)

  8. At a special meeting without public comment, the Oliver County Commission repealed the 180-day data center moratorium adopted the month before; Applied Digital filed a rezoning request the next day. (KX News, May 1, 2026; KFYR, May 1, 2026; KFYR-TV, May 4, 2026)

  9. More than 200 people attended a meeting in Center where the county zoning board recommended a moratorium on data centers and crypto mining. (KX News, Feb. 27, 2026)

Conflicts and open questions

  • Coordinates approximate, placed between Hannover and Center; reports differ (KFYR/Valley News Live: south of Hannover near Highways 25 and 31; Center Republican: one mile east of Hannover and five miles north of Center). Not a parcel address.
  • Link between the Oliver County site and the name Polaris Forge 3 comes from Montana-Dakota's June 2026 release and Applied Digital's Oct. 2026 8-K.
  • Applied Digital holds about a 10% stake in Base Electron, and its board approved the PPA after review by a related-party committee (8-K and 10-Q, Oct. 2026).
  • The commissioner who voted no said his objection was the farmland location and raised the future demolition cost and livestock heat concerns; the company said it could not obtain the reclamation bonds the county sought.
  • Timing conflict: the Center Republican reports the permit approved July 7, 2026, while a KFYR/Valley News Live story dated July 13, 2026 said the county had not yet voted on the rezoning. The county's own minutes were not opened.
  • MDU ESA approval by the PSC: no docket number found in opened sources.
  • The Base Electron PPA can be ended if the gas plant's financing has not closed by March 31, 2027 (10-Q, Oct. 2026).

The full record

Status note
Applied Digital reports two buildings under construction, with initial service expected in the second half of 2027 (operations targeted for August 2027).
Power note
430 MW is the full-load demand in Montana-Dakota Utilities' electric service agreement; 300 MW is the critical IT load leased. A separate 1,200 MW gas plant to be built by Base Electron in Center is intended to supply the campus under a 15-year PPA.
Evidence
Primary public records
Size class
50 MW or more (tracker scope)
Map position approximate, from the reported address or area. Updated Oct. 17, 2026.