What is Project Azalea?

Project Azalea is a proposed state-of-the-art data center in McDuffie County, Georgia.

It includes up to 6 buildings, totally approximately 1,500,000 square feet.

Where is Project Azalea?

Project Azalea is located on a 200-acre site at Randall Hunt Road in McDuffie County, Georgia.

It is 6.9 miles off Interstate i-20 and approximately 28.7 mi from the City of Augusta.

Neighboring sites include an approved 2,700-acre solar farm and regional Georgia Power substation.

What is a Data Center?

A data center is a digital warehouse that stores and manages the world’s information — keeping the internet, apps, and cloud services running 24/7.

It is a specialized facility that houses computer systems and related equipment — such as servers, storage systems, networking gear, and power supplies — used to store, process, and distribute large amounts of digital data.

It keeps websites running, processes transactions, hosts cloud services, & stores the data behind apps like email, social media, banking, and more.

A data center is essentially the backbone of the internet and digital services.

Modern blue office building with large glass windows, surrounded by neatly trimmed trees and bushes in an empty parking lot under a clear blue sky.
A digital illustration of cloud computing and data management, showing various cloud icons with symbols representing email, graphs, folders, gears, user profile, and analytics, connected by dotted lines, overlaid on a server room background.

Water Usage

  • Bar chart comparing actual withdrawals to maximum capacity in Gainesville. The chart shows current usage at 22,000 MGD, estimated capacity at approximately 12,775 MGD, and a projection called Project Turbo at 0.225 MGD.

    Impact on Water Resources

    Project Azalea will have minimal impact on water resources. At 30,000 gal/day, the project will use about 1% of McDuffie’s advertised water capacity of 3,000,000 gal/day*.

    Estimated Water Usage: 30,000 gallons/day**

    Water Source: Municipal Water Utility (will NOT affect property on a well)

    *https://selectmcduffie.com/regional-assets/utilities/

    **For reference, 30,000 GPD is an equivalent usage to 120 homes

  • Closed Loop Design Example

    System Design

    Project Azalea will utilize a closed-loop cooling architecture, eliminating the need for resource-intensive water usage.

    The water used in the closed-loop cooling system will be recycled continuously through the loop for server-side cooling, reducing the total building’s water usage to that of the operations of the on-site staff and irrigation.

    As with any other traditional industrial or commercial business, the non-cooling/operational water usage by the on-site employees will be returned to sanitary sewer (with POTW approval).

Past & Upcoming Meetings

  • Project Azalea

    (PAST) Tuesday, March 3, 2026

    Planning Commission Vote - Approved

    Open to the Public

    Time: 6:30pm Eastern

    Location: Thomson-McDuffie Government Center (210 Railroad Street, Thomson, GA 30824)

  • Project Azalea

    (UPCOMING) Tuesday, March 10, 2026

    Project Azalea Q&A

    Open to the Public

    Time: 6:30pm Eastern

    Location: Thomson-McDuffie Government Center (210 Railroad Street, Thomson, GA 30824)

  • Project Azalea

    (UPCOMING) Tuesday, March 17, 2026

    Board of Commissioners Vote

    Open to the Public

    Time: 6:30pm Eastern

    Location: Thomson-McDuffie Government Center (210 Railroad Street, Thomson, GA 30824)

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Project Azalea?

What’s the impact on water?

Will this increase my power bill?

What’s the potential noise pollution?

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