Steel firm JFE Holdings, Inc. and Mitsubishi Corporation are exploring developing data centers in Kawasaki, Japan.

First reported by Nikkei and confirmed by the companies this week, JFE and Mitsubishi have signed a memorandum of understanding around establishing a joint venture to integrate power generation and data center businesses in the Ohgishima area of Kawasaki City, Keihin District.

JFE’s Ohgishima 2050 plan aims to develop a liquid hydrogen plant and industrial park on the site of JFE Steel’s 400-hectare East Japan Works. The steel plant was shut down in 2023.

JFE and MC will jointly study the development of data centers in the area adjacent to JFE's power plants by the fiscal year 2030.

Further details on the potential scope of any data centers weren’t shared. Nikkei reports that the companies aim to invest more than 100 billion yen ($664m) in developing AI-focused facilities totaling 60-90MW.

The steel works were founded in 1912 by Nippon Kokan (NKK) and rebuilt around 1971. JFE Holdings was formed in 2002 through the merger of NKK and Kawasaki Steel Corporation; it owns JFE Steel, JFE Engineering, and Japan Marine United.

Mitsubishi Corporation has been active in Japan’s data center market since 2017, when it formed its first JV with Digital Realty, known as MC Digital Realty (MCDR). That JV has since developed several facilities – though Mitsubishi has sold portions of its stake in several individual facilities to Digital Realty’s data center REIT, Digital Core REIT.

Last year, Mitsubishi and Digital Realty formed a new joint venture in Texas to finance the building of two pre-leased data centers in Dallas.