A large data center development could be coming to the West Texas border with Mexico.
First reported by the Big Bend Sentinel, energy firm Open Origin is in the early planning stages for a data center campus in Presidio County, Texas.
The publication reports that the energy company is in discussions with officials from Presidio County and the City of Marfa about developing an 80,000-acre campus southeast of Marfa on land containing the MacGuire and Antelope Springs ranches.
Further details on the project, including facility specifications or timelines, haven’t been shared. The project is reportedly set to target OpenAI’s RFP for capacity under its Stargate project.
The land in question is currently owned by billionaire landowner Brad Kelley’s Texas Mountain Cattle Company, and the land sale has yet to be finalized.
Marfa is located in Presidio County in West Texas, along the US border with the Mexican state of Chihuahua.
Open Origin told the Sentinel it is in the “early stages” of exploring a potential data center project in Presidio County.
“While details are still emerging, our priority is to work closely with local stakeholders to ensure the project reflects community needs and values,” CEO Wesley Powell told the publication. “We appreciate the community’s interest and look forward to engaging with the public as a next step in the process.”
County and city officials noted to the Sentinel that they may offer the company tax abatements to encourage the development to go ahead.
The project could increase the amount of water used in the area by 10-20 percent, according to the Sentinel, but there could be scope for the site to utilize treated wastewater from the nearby City of Marfa wastewater treatment plant off Highway 67.
Open Origin describes itself as an energy generation and distribution company, producing and distributing ammonia-based green fuels.
On its website, the company said it aims to build multiple ammonia production facilities across the American Southwest and the Australian Outback, powered by on-site renewable generation (mostly solar). It also aims to develop off-grid data centers colocated with these plants.
Open Origin reportedly operates an ammonia plant in Salinas Piros, New Mexico.
The company also lists plans for a supercomputer-as-a-service offering known as Ziastra. The 800 petaflops system (it is unclear if this is Linpack or AI flops) will reportedly contain 20,000 Nvidia B200 GPUs in modules developed by Atos’ Eviden unit and is set to go live this year. Again, further details haven't been shared.
Open Origin has reportedly signed a memorandum of understanding with the Government of Maharashtra, India, to build an ammonia production plant in the region.
