Soluna and Metrobloks Forge Co-Development Partnership for 100MW AI-Ready Data Center in Texas

Soluna and Metrobloks Forge Co-Development Partnership for 100MW AI-Ready Data Center in Texas January 15, 2026 As the demand for artificial intelligence and high-performance computing workloads surges, the race to secure scalable, power-ready infrastructure has intensified. Strategic partnerships are becoming crucial for developers to accelerate deployment and meet the immediate capacity needs of enterprise and hyperscale clients. This week, Soluna Holdings, a developer of modular data centers co-located with renewable energy, announced a memorandum of understanding with Metrobloks, a developer focused on AI-ready infrastructure. The agreement establishes a co-development partnership for "Project Kati 2," a new data center campus in Willacy County, Texas, near McAllen. The initial phase of the project will be a 100-megawatt facility designed for critical IT, AI, and HPC workloads. This development is positioned as the first step in a larger campus roadmap with a potential total capacity exceeding 300MW. The site will leverage Soluna's existing power entitlements and land control at the Project Kati location, where the company broke ground on the first phase in September 2025. Under the partnership, the two companies intend to form a project company to own and operate the facility. Metrobloks will lead the design, development, leasing, and day-to-day operations, including securing pre-lease commitments. Soluna will contribute the site control, power agreements, and electrical equipment. Both parties will jointly source third-party capital for the build-out. John Belizaire, CEO of Soluna, emphasized the strategic fit of the location, stating, "This site offers what AI and HPC deployments need most right now: available power, strong renewable resources, and a regulatory and grid environment that supports speed." He added that partnering with Metrobloks allows Soluna to "accelerate AI and HPC deployment while staying focused on what we do best, turning constrained renewable energy into productive compute." Ernest Popescu, CEO of Metrobloks, echoed the urgency in the market, noting, "Customers are telling us the same thing in every market. They need power and capacity now, not years from now." He highlighted that "Soluna has already done the hard work to secure a renewable-powered site with room to grow," upon which Metrobloks will build with an AI-ready design. The development is already under a non-binding letter of intent from a potential "neocloud" tenant. Furthermore, the partners are working with EDF Power Solutions to source additional power from the nearby Las Majadas wind farm to support future expansion. The deal signifies a growing trend of specialized partnerships in the data center industry, combining power procurement expertise with rapid, customer-focused development capabilities. For Soluna, which also hosts cryptocurrency mining at its other sites, this partnership diversifies its tenant base into the high-growth AI sector. For Metrobloks, it adds a major, scalable project to its portfolio, which includes planned facilities in Detroit, Miami, Indianapolis, Phoenix, and Paris. Source: datacenterdynamics