Meta Bowling Green · Bowling Green, OH
Last change recorded 2026-10-04 · Last checked 2026-10-04
Latest: Apollo full operation, campus at full capacity (planned) · New generation online · 2027-12-31 (plan) · recorded 2026-10-04
Project Accordion, Middleton Township, Wood County: $800m, 715,000 sq ft on 280 acres, announced April 2025. Primary supply is the behind-the-meter Apollo gas plant (Will-Power OH, 147 acres next door), not connected to the grid; Toledo Edison (FirstEnergy) provides standby only. Apollo construction from about 2026-02-09; partial operation and partial data-center energization expected mid-2027, full in late 2027. The plant was fast-tracked without public hearings. · source ◐ secondary, confidence medium
Recorded readiness — 3 of 5 applicable milestones have a dated public record
Gate to first power — target 2027-06-30 (announced) · path: On-site generation · each step must finish its lead time before the target
2 of 4 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.
| Step | Must finish by | Others did it | Known date | Status | Basis | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Site secured (context) | 2026-03-28 (15 mo before) | 13 mo before (n=26) | 2025-04-09 | context | Data center announced ($800m) · ◐ | |
| Permits in hand | 2027-06-28 (0 mo before) | 4 mo after (n=8) | 2025-11-05 | on record in time | Apollo plant filed with the Ohio Power Siting Board (letter-of-notification track) · ● | |
| New generation online | 2027-05-28 (1 mo before) | 12 mo after (n=1) | 2026-02-09 | on record in time | Apollo on-site gas plant construction starts · ◐ | |
| Major equipment on site | 2026-12-28 (6 mo before) | 9 mo after (n=1) | no public date | no public date · would need to be done by 2026-12-28 | No date on record | |
| Building ready for IT | 2027-06-28 (0 mo before) | 2 mo after (n=7) | no public date | no public date · would need to be done by 2027-06-28 | No date on record |
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)
Power equipment (from permits, filings and reporting; blank cells were not disclosed)
| Category | Make / model | Units | MW | Status | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| gas turbine | — | 21 | — | under construction | 2026-02-09 | Apollo plant (Will-Power OH): 21 turbines + 6 recip engines + 2 diesel emergency engines; 350 MW; partial operation mid-2027 · ● |
| gas reciprocating engine | — | 6 | — | under construction | 2026-02-09 | Apollo plant · ● |
| battery storage | — | — | 120 MW | under construction | 2026-02-09 | About 120 MW of BESS at the Apollo plant · ◐ |
Build-out timeline (Epoch AI; dated status notes with IT power; rows after today are estimates)
Recorded fact No public date for major equipment on site, building ready for it.
Calculated requirement Major equipment on site must finish by 2026-12-28; no public date is on record for it. Under the current rule set the recorded dates plus their lead times give a first power no earlier than 2027-06-30 (on the target). This is a floor set by the record, not a forecast.
Sources (Epoch AI selection): Meta letter to Middleton Township · Construction notice for new transmission lines to data center substation · Ohio Power Siting Board announcement · Apollo Power Generation Project Letter of Notice Appendix A, with a project timeline
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 meta-bowling-green; include the row and a source link).