Alibaba Zhangbei · Zhangbei, Hebei, China

Last change recorded — · Last checked 2026-10-05

OwnerAlibaba

UsersAlibaba

IT power, end of 2026169 MW

Planned end state169 MW

First power2025-09-17

Build-out completeno further build-out tracked

Power pathNo data yet

Binding stepNo data yet

First power vs announcedNo announced date on record

Full build-out vs announcedNo announced date on record

Utility / power partnersState Grid Hebei (territory estimate) (verify)

Recorded readiness — 0 of 6 applicable milestones have a dated public record

○ Land○ Permits○ Grid supply· Generation○ Water○ Financing○ Construction

Gate to first power — target 2025-09-17 (estimate) · path: unknown, generic steps assumed · each step must finish its lead time before the target

0 of 0 required steps have a public date. Red = recorded date past the rule-based deadline · grey "no public date" = required step without a record · green = on record in time · context steps never colour.

No dated steps on record.

This site is energized; lights only show how its recorded steps compared with the lead times.

Lead-time assumptions

Site secured 15 months before first power — Land under control and campus announced. Rarely binding; shown for context.
Permits in hand 0 months before first power — Final air and siting permits. Operators often energize on standard or temporary authorisations and receive the major permit later; flagged only when the permit lands more than 6 months after first power or is missing for an on-site plant.
Grid supply agreed 9 months before first power — Interconnection or large-load agreement approved. Observed median 7 months before first power; the physical works (substation, lines) run in parallel with construction.
Substation and lines energized 2 months before first power — Utility delivery point live; final tests before the load is taken.
New generation online 1 months before first power — Utility plant or on-site plant generating; needed just before energization when the grid cannot carry the load alone.
Major equipment on site 6 months before first power — Turbines, transformers, switchgear delivered; installation and commissioning take the remaining months.
Construction started 24 months before first power — Groundbreaking of the building that gives first power. Observed 4-26 months for recent AI campuses; Meta's redesigned campuses took 35-58.
Building ready for IT 0 months before first power — First building ready for IT. 'Complete' or 'opened' is usually reported after first power; flagged only beyond 3 months.
Full build-out complete -12 months before first power — All announced buildings operational. Comes after first power by design; context only.
Water supply secured 12 months before first power — Water rights, municipal agreement or desalination contract in hand. Context only; one of the feasibility items.
Financing closed 12 months before first power — Project financing, anchor lease or committed capital announced. Context only; not applicable when the owner is a hyperscaler building on its balance sheet.

Dated steps (from the sources; later dates are plans)

2025-09-17 First powerFirst power (Epoch) · ◐

Build-out timeline (Epoch AI; dated status notes with IT power; rows after today are estimates)

2024-07-23—New chiller configuration starts getting installed on Building 1-3.

2025-09-1785 MWLarge substation is visibly connected to transmission lines. New chillers look fully installed on Building 1-3. Since power and cooling is apparently in place, we expect Building 1-3 are operational. Chillers are almost

2025-12-2385 MWChillers look fully installed on Building 4-6. Some chillers on Building 4 and 5 appear to have snow in the fan holes, suggesting they are not operating and other chillers are operating (since warm air would melt the sno

2026-01-03169 MWExpect Building 4-6 have finished upgrading with new chillers.

Recorded fact The site is energized.

Calculated requirement Energized; watch the build-out timeline for the next buildings.

Sources (Epoch AI selection): Sinocities blog on Eastern Data Western Compute sites · News on the Chahar site, with an aerial photo · Hebei government page with 3D renderings of the Miaotan North and Chahar sites · Announcement of the Hebei Zhangbei Intelligent Computing Center

Epoch AI, 'AI data centers', epoch.ai/data/ai-data-centers (CC BY 4.0); coordinates from GeoNames cities500 (CC BY 4.0) and hand-entered places; overrides in tools/project_overrides.csv with their own sources. Campuses outside the Epoch dataset come from tools/campuses.csv (public reporting, source per row). Data retrieved 2026-10-05. Report a correction to contact@ailoadmap.com (campus id alibaba-zhangbei; include the row and a source link).