CyrusOne Accelerates Texas Data Center Build with Energy Storage Firm Eolian

CyrusOne Accelerates Texas Data Center Build with Energy Storage Firm Eolian January 14, 2026 As demand for hyperscale data center capacity surges, operators are increasingly seeking innovative partnerships to overcome grid constraints and accelerate project timelines. A new collaboration between a major data center provider and an energy storage developer highlights a strategic shift towards leveraging existing infrastructure for faster, more efficient growth. CyrusOne, the global data center real estate investment trust owned by KKR and BlackRock's Global Infrastructure Partners, announced this week a partnership with energy storage developer and operator Eolian. The collaboration centers on CyrusOne's under-construction DFW7 data center campus in Fort Worth, Texas. The agreement is designed to significantly speed the project's time to market by colocating the facility with Eolian's existing Chisholm Grid battery energy storage system (BESS) and utilizing established high-voltage transmission infrastructure. The 100MW Chisholm Grid BESS site, located seven miles northwest of downtown Fort Worth, began commercial operations in the ERCOT market in 2021. As part of the new deal, Eolian will modernize and upgrade the battery site. The adjacent DFW7 data center, a $200 million, 1.9 million square foot facility, is expected to offer approximately 70MW of IT capacity. Construction began in April 2025, with completion now targeted for early 2026. Eric Schwartz, CEO of CyrusOne, stated, "Leveraging the existing infrastructure at the Fort Worth campus enables CyrusOne to deliver large-scale capacity to customers beginning in 2026. CyrusOne is accelerating time-to-market for our customers by working creatively with Eolian as an established energy project developer and operator with existing sites in locations that would be difficult to replicate." The partnership underscores a broader industry trend of integrating data centers with grid-scale energy assets. For CyrusOne, which operates over 80 data centers globally, the deal bolsters its substantial Texas portfolio, which includes more than 14 facilities, over half of which are in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. For Eolian, a company backed by BlackRock's GIP that has funded nearly 30GW of energy projects, it represents a direct application of its infrastructure to support digital growth. Aaron Zubaty, CEO of Eolian, emphasized the efficiency gains, saying, "This project is about problem-solving— using existing infrastructure intelligently to deliver speed to power and speed to data center growth. By developing flexible capacity resources at highly networked grid locations, we can enable hyperscale growth without duplicating facilities, expanding transmission, or utilizing additional industrial real estate." The model pioneered at DFW7 could serve as a blueprint for future developments in power-constrained markets, demonstrating that colocation with energy storage and strategic use of existing grid assets may provide a faster alternative to building entirely new transmission infrastructure. Source: datacenterdynamics