Former Nikola hydrogen site pivots to data center after Australian company abandons plans

Article originally posted on Phoenix Business Journal on February 11, 2026

A West Valley site where Nikola once planned to build a massive hydrogen hub is now poised to become a data center campus.

A 158-acre site at 283rd Avenue and Patterson Road is moving through the city of Buckeye’s rezoning process to allow for more general industrial uses, rather than only hydrogen gas production. Buckeye’s Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval of that request during a Feb.10 meeting.

The land is currently owned by a Australian-based mining and green energy company called Fortescue.

Fortescue initially intended to build its first U.S. green hydrogen hub — consisting of an 80-megawatt electrolyzer and liquefaction facility — after acquiring about 1,000 acres from Nikola Corp. in 2023 for $24 million.

It planned to serve as a key supplier for Nikola, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy about a year ago.

Fortescue began site work in May 2024, then ultimately abandoned its plans for the development last summer, citing uncertainty and waning federal commitment to green energy initiatives.

“The policy environment surrounding clean hydrogen has considerably shifted,” according to a project narrative document, which points to stricter eligibility requirements for clean energy tax credits included in recently passed federal legislation.

Fortescue is the applicant on the latest rezoning proposal and could not be reached for comment on Tuesday. The city hasn’t received any formal submittals for a site plan for a data center on the site, Joseph Mueller, senior planner for Buckeye, said during the Feb. 10 meeting, though he noted that there is an active site plan application for an APS substation on the property.

KORE Power nixed billion-dollar battery factory

Fortescue isn’t the only company to nix plans for a major development in Buckeye in recent years.

A year ago, KORE Power – headquartered in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho – announced it was no longer building a $1 billion lithium-ion battery manufacturing plant in the West Valley city after failing to meet financing and construction milestones. The plant, called the KOREPlex, would have amounted to over 2 million square feet and brought around 3,000 new jobs, becoming the city’s largest employer.

Last month, the former 214-acre KORE Power site sold to a Phoenix-based industrial developer, Tratt Properties, for $32.5 million.

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