Partners Must Secure Utility Interconnection Agreements: NNSA Seeks Proposals for AI Data Centers at Savannah River Site

On September 30, 2025, the National Nuclear Security Administration, NNSA, said in a release that it had issued a Request for Proposals "seeking proposals from U.S. private sector partners to build and power Artificial Intelligence (AI) data centers at Savannah River Site." The line under the release's title calls it a "solicitation to lease federal land for developing power generation and infrastructure for artificial intelligence data centers." Land to lease, and power to be developed on it.

Land to lease

The release places the site among others. Savannah River Site, it says, is "one of four sites identified by the Department of Energy (DOE) for AI infrastructure and generation projects on federal land."

At this one, NNSA "has identified 10 tracts of land totaling 3,103 acres at SRS for AI infrastructure projects." It wants the power and the computing in the same proposal, and "seeks applications that integrate innovative energy generation and storage projects with AI data centers." Generation, storage and data centers, together.

What the partner takes on

The leases are long-term. Partners "will submit proposals to potentially enter into one or more long-term leasing agreements at the site and will be responsible for building, operating, and decommissioning each infrastructure project." Potentially, in the release's word.

The agreements with the utility are the partner's to secure as well. "Partners must secure utility interconnection agreements," the release says.

The land is federal, but the grid connection does not come with it. That one sentence leaves the utility agreement, and whatever time it takes, with the partner.

Proposals, the release says, "will be competitively evaluated for technological readiness, financial viability, and detailed plans to complete regulatory and permitting requirements." The permits are the partner's plan to make, and part of what is judged.

Other sites, other dates

The release sets this request among others from DOE. In April, it says, DOE released a Request for Information "to inform possible use of 16 DOE sites for rapid development of data centers and generation." In September, DOE's Idaho Operations Office "issued a Request for Application seeking applications by November 7, 2025," and DOE's Oak Ridge Reservation "issued a Request for Proposals" on September 30.

For Savannah River itself, NNSA "has issued a Request for Proposals seeking proposals by December 5, 2025." The release also says NNSA "will sponsor a virtual industry day event to learn more about the solicitation process."

The release puts the power and the data center in one proposal, and both on the partner's side. What a lender would want to see in writing is the utility agreement the release says the partner must secure.