# Nscale Ward County Data Center

ERCOT data center · https://askthegrid.com/assets/facilities/nscale-ward-county-data-center

Cedarvale, now Nscale’s Ward County site, has transitioned from Bitcoin mining to AI infrastructure. Ionic Digital reported that Nscale took possession in December 2025 and all mining equipment left the site. By October 1, 2026, Nscale described Ward County as a live AI data center delivering thousands of GPUs. The earlier 234 MW lease disclosure describes facility capacity, rather than measured AI electrical demand.

## Identity and location

- Operating status: operating
- Asset scope: facility
- Location: 3013 FM 516 North, Barstow, Ward County, TX
- Owner: Ionic Digital (exact asset) — https://ionicdigital.com
- Operator: Nscale (exact asset) — https://www.nscale.com
- Tenant: Nscale (exact asset) — https://www.nscale.com

## Power and grid context

- Reported unspecified: 234 MW · reported · exact asset · as of 2025-10-14 — Full facility capacity disclosed in the ten-year Nscale lease announcement; electrical basis unspecified. This is not measured current AI demand, a contracted utility supply, or a disclosed critical IT load.

## Development

- Construction: The former Cedarvale mining facility transitioned to Nscale possession in December 2025, when Ionic Digital reported that all mining equipment had transferred out. Nscale described Ward County as a live AI data center on October 1, 2026. This supersedes the earlier planned-2026 AI status; remaining expansion plans are separate from the operating milestone.

## Compute and operations

- Facility classes: ai_hpc
- Workloads: AI infrastructure operation; historical Bitcoin mining ceased at the site during the December 2025 handoff.
- Operating context: Nscale reported Ward County as a live AI data center delivering thousands of GPUs in October 2026. Its site overview describes roughly 240 MW and plans to expand to 1.2 GW; those rounded scale and future plans do not establish measured delivered load. Historical mining equipment had left the site in December 2025.

## Sources

- [Census county at preserved current publication anchor](https://geocoding.geo.census.gov/geocoder/geographies/coordinates?x=-103.44855&y=31.513445&benchmark=Public_AR_Current&vintage=Current_Current&format=json)
- [ionic-handoff](https://ionicdigital.com/press-releases/ionic-digital-announces-december-2025-operations-update/)
- [ionic-building1](https://ionicdigital.com/press-releases/ionic-digital-announces-energization-of-building-1-of-its-cedarvale-facility-and-launches-new-website/)
- [ionic-lease-primary](https://ionicdigital.com/press-releases/ionic-digital-secures-transformational-lease-agreement-of-cedarvale-facility-with-nscale/)
- [ionic-building2](https://ionicdigital.com/press-releases/ionic-digital-shares-september-2024-production-operations-update/)
- [nscale-sites](https://www.nscale.com/ai-infrastructure)
- [nscale-oct](https://www.nscale.com/press-releases/execution-at-scale)
- [nscale-ms](https://www.nscale.com/press-releases/nscale-microsoft-2025)

## Data quality

- Power values retain their reported, requested, contracted, energized, gross-campus, or critical-IT basis.

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Canonical page: https://askthegrid.com/assets/facilities/nscale-ward-county-data-center
Profile generated: 2026-10-22T15:00:27.066969Z
Source: Ask the Grid — https://askthegrid.com/