Company partnering with Texas Tech University System for off-grid nuclear-solar-gas project
A massive multi-gigawatt behind-the-meter campus is being planned in Texas close to the US government’s main nuclear weapons development facility by former Texas governor and energy secretary Rick Perry.
This week, the Texas Tech University System (TTU System) announced a collaboration with recently founded energy and technology company Fermi America to develop a large AI and energy campus near Amarillo in the Texas Panhandle.
Located on approximately 5,800 acres, the Advanced Energy and Intelligence Campus will reportedly include “18 million square feet (1.67 million sqm) of data centers and generate up to 11GW of IT capacity from natural gas, solar, wind, and clean nuclear energy.”
Fermi America, co-founded by former US Energy Secretary and Texas governor Rick Perry, will provide critical infrastructure energy solutions. The company said geotechnical work has already begun on the campus and is expected to deliver 1GW of power by the end of 2026.
Details on how this project - which would likely require tens of billions of dollars - will be funded have not been shared.
Fermi says its HyperGrid behind-the-meter campus will combine the “largest nuclear power complex in America, the nation’s biggest combined-cycle natural gas project, utility grid power, solar power, and battery energy storage” into one development serving hyperscale data center companies.
The company said the planned campus is located at the “confluence of several of the nation's largest gas pipelines and located atop one of the nation's largest known natural gas fields.”
Fermi also said the planned campus is also in proximity to Pantex, the nation's primary nuclear facility. Located 20 miles (32 km) northeast of Amarillo, in Carson County, the site is the US’ primary nuclear weapons assembly and disassembly facility.
The Wall Street Journal notes Fermi has submitted a federal application to build a nuclear power complex totaling four 1GW Westinghouse AP1000 reactors. The firm reportedly aims to start construction next year and launch the first phase of the nuclear plant by 2032. The NRC confirmed to the WSJ it was reviewing applications from Fermi, which should be made public soon.
“The Texas Tech University System is proud to partner with Fermi America on this historic endeavor,” said TTU System chancellor, Tedd L. Mitchell. “Texas is the energy capital of the world, and this campus will not only be the largest energy and data complex of its kind, but also a testament to the unshakable spirit of our system, the Texas Panhandle, and this great state.”
“The Chinese are building 22 nuclear reactors today,” added Perry. “We’re behind, and it’s all hands on deck. President Trump’s first executive order spoke to the energy issue and how we must continue to make America energy dominant. No one does energy better than Texas, and Fermi America and the Texas Tech University System are answering the call.”
James Richard “Rick” Perry was the 47th governor of Texas from 2000 to 2015 and secretary of energy under President Trump from 2017 to 2019. He unsuccessfully ran for to win the Republican presidential nomination in the 2012 and 2016 elections.
On LinkedIn, his son Griffin Perry, co-founder of private investment firm Grey Rock Energy Partners, is listed as a co-founder of Fermi. Grey Rock Investment Partners is a private equity firm with more than $1.3 billion in asset value across its private equity fund platform. It acquired natural gas power services firm Conduit Power in 2022.
Nathan Neugebauer of SMB investor Iceberg Capital and finance firm Banzai Capital Group is listed as Fermi’s operations manager on LinkedIn. The WSJ notes Toby Neugebauer is also involved in Fermi.
The campus plan also includes the construction of an academic and research facility featuring office, classroom, and conference spaces. TTU System said the project will provide academic and research opportunities for faculty and students, including internships, employment, and workforce training and placement programs that will benefit all five TTU System institutions.
“This collaboration will not only position Texas Tech to address the evolving demands of the energy and technology sectors but will also create meaningful educational opportunities for our students and research possibilities across many disciplines for our faculty,” said TTU President Lawrence Schovanec.
Established in 1996 and headquartered in Lubbock, the Texas Tech University System consists of five universities – Texas Tech University, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Angelo State University, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso, and Midwestern State University. TTU totals 21,000 employees and 64,000 students, with more than 400,000 alums.
"Today's announcement of an advanced energy and intelligence campus in Amarillo marks a pivotal moment for the Texas Panhandle and for the United States," added US Congressman Ronny Jackson. "This strategic investment and key innovative partnership between Fermi America and the Texas Tech University System is expected to establish the world's largest energy-driven data center, placing America firmly at the forefront of the global AI race against the Chinese Communist Party.”
