Alabama: New HPC data center to be built at the University of Alabama

The University of Alabama (UA) will receive a new data center to house supercomputers. The UA System Board of Trustees has approved the first phase of construction for a new high-performance computing (HPC) data facility on the Tuscaloosa campus.

The initiative is predicted to need $96 million in funding, with $44.5 million coming from the National Institute of Standards and Technology of the US Department of Commerce and $46 million from the state's Education Trust Fund, as authorized by Governor Kay Ivey. The facility will be completed in August 2026 and will encompass 40,000 square feet.

UA collaborates closely with the National Water Center of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the US Geological Survey Hydrologic Instrumentation Facility, which are located on the UA campus.

According to Dr. Allen Parrish, the interim vice president for research and economic development, the HPC center will contribute to "the development of a highly skilled workforce that will stimulate economic growth in Alabama for the 21st century."

NOAA announced earlier this year that it would increase the computing capacity of its Weather and Climate Operational Supercomputing System by 20%. The system currently consists of multiple HPC clusters with a total capacity of 49 petaflops.