What a 5 MW AI compute hall actually costs
Capex, opex, PPA, lease — we break down the real numbers for a 5 MW AI compute hall running NVIDIA H100s on z1power battery-backed power.
When customers ask what a 5 MW AI compute hall costs, they usually want a single number. The honest answer is: it depends on structure, term, and how much risk you're taking on the power side. Here are the real ranges.
The capital stack
A 5 MW AI compute hall running NVIDIA H100s has roughly these capital components:
- →GPU compute: 200-300 H100s at current pricing. ~$8-12M.
- →Networking: InfiniBand NDR fabric, switches, cabling. ~$1-2M.
- →Server chassis, storage, racks. ~$1-2M.
- →Cooling: liquid cooling loop, CDUs, facility water. ~$2-4M.
- →Power: z1power 5 MW BESS, switchgear, transformers. ~$4-6M.
- →Building shell, generators (backup-only), security. ~$3-5M.
Total capex: roughly $20-30M for a turnkey 5 MW hall. That's about $4-6k per GPU at the H100 price point.
Operating cost
Operating cost is dominated by power and depreciation:
- →Power: ~$2-4M per year at average US industrial rates, with battery arbitrage.
- →Maintenance + AURA + insurance: ~$1M per year.
- →Depreciation on $25M of capex over 5 years: ~$5M per year.
- →Total opex: ~$8-12M per year.
Per-GPU economics
All-in cost per H100 per hour: roughly $1.50-2.50, depending on utilization and financing structure. That's competitive with major hyperscalers, and you get the grid-independence story.
Email tco@smarttec.dev with your workload profile (training vs inference, utilization, term) and we'll send a detailed model within a week.