Offering an initial 150MW plot in West Texas
Texas oil and gas company FO Permian Partners has outlined plans to provide more than 5GW of off-grid natural gas power to data centers in the Permian Basin, West Texas.
The company has secured a 320-acre plot in Midland County, Texas, for a behind-the-meter natural gas platform with 150MW of ready-now capacity. The 300-acre plot is part of a larger 3,200-acre tract of land, which the company claims has direct access to more than 5GW of natural gas supply.
According to the company, phase one of the project could be operational as early as 2026.
The site is being offered as part of a collaboration between the City of Midland and HiVolt Energy.
HiVolt will operate the power generation assets, which will include custom reciprocating engines, supported by a redundant battery system designed to meet load-response requirements and reliability standards.
“AI infrastructure is the new backbone of economic growth and national competitiveness,” said Jose Ortega, co-founder of FO Permian Partners. “By combining abundant fuel, ready-to-build sites, and critical infrastructure here in the Permian Basin, we are removing the single biggest barrier to deployment: time. Our model empowers operators to move from agreement to operation in months instead of years, securing US leadership in AI while delivering sustainable, reliable power.”
Through the platform, FO aims to offer US data center developers “direct access to low-cost natural gas,” while eliminating the need for transmission upgrades or interconnection approvals, allowing operators to move from contract to commissioning in months.
In addition, the company claims that the location offers established industrial water supplies, multiple resilient fiber routes, and attainment-zone status.
Ortega contended that the platform is not just a regional project but a national opportunity, stating: “The US must accelerate energy supply to continue dominating computational capacity, and the Permian Basin is the only location in America that can deliver the scale, speed, and reliability AI workloads demand. This region has been supplying energy to the world for nearly a century, and West Texans have the experience and infrastructure to step up and power this critical national infrastructure.”
The Permian Basin is one of the largest producers of natural gas in the US. In 2024, natural gas production across the Permian rose by 12 percent year-over-year, accounting for 22 percent of the marketed natural gas production in the US, according to the EIA.
The high production levels, combined with the favorable regulatory environment in Texas, have led several data center operators to announce projects that aim to utilize the Permian’s natural gas production to power data centers behind-the-meter.
A notable example is Texas Critical Data Centers, which recently closed the purchase of 235 acres of land in Ector County, Texas, to build a 250MW natural gas-powered AI data center, with the potential to scale beyond 1GW.
Permian-based natural gas companies are also positioning themselves as supplier to the sector. In February, Diamondback Energy, a Texas-based oil and gas firm, said it was on the lookout for data center operators to partner with to locate their facilities in the Permian Basin.
Source: DCD
