Microsoft has broken ground on another data center project in North Carolina.
"Microsoft is constructing the Stover data center starting July 2024 to the spring of 2025," the company said this week. "The data center construction site is located in Hickory Lincolnton, Hickory, North Carolina."
Construction work at the project, known as the Stover data center, began in July 2024.
Hickory, in Catawba County, is located around 50 miles northwest of Charlotte.
The general contractor Ames Construction Company is preparing the site by excavating and crushing rock onsite.
In November 2022, Microsoft announced plans to invest at least $1 billion toward building four data centers in North Carolina's Catawba County.
It began acquiring land in the area shortly afterward - including a 160-acre plot along Hickory Lincolnton.
At the time, local press also reported data centers would be located along Tate Boulevard in Hickory, behind the Walmart in Conover, along Stover Court in Newton, and on 300 acres along Zeb Haynes Road west of Maiden.
The two Hickory sites are reportedly known as Projects Pine and Star.
This year has seen Microsoft break ground on two other sites in Catawba County in Conover (known as Project Agate or the Lyle Creek data center) and Maiden (known as Project Yoga or the Boyd Farms data center).
